This guide walks through finding your Self Assessment return in CalCal and submitting it to HMRC — from Tax Years through to a successful submission.
Find your Self Assessment return
In the sidebar, open Tax. You land on Tax Years (Tax Return Periods).
- Tax Return Only accounts show Tax, Log Out, and Help in the sidebar, and open on Tax Years.
- Full accounts also show the bookkeeping menus; Tax is still the entry point for Self Assessment.
Tap a tax year to open Self-assessment Details / SA Submission for that year.
- A year you can file opens the three-step wizard.
- A year already submitted shows your SA302 (tax calculation / summary and downloads).
- If the year cannot be filed here, you see Cannot submit or Subscription required.
Tax years before 2019 open in the older CalCal Self Assessment experience.
The three-step wizard
A submittable year uses a three-step flow. Returning to Set up remounts the wizard for that year.
Step 1 — Set up (“Get set up”)
Here you complete:
- Your Details (your personal details for the return)
- Pre-fill Forms
When the UTR tick is set, CalCal can pull HMRC pre-population into the return.
You can move to Step 2 once Your Details shows a green tick.
Step 2 — Your forms (“Fill out your forms”)
You see the form list for this tax year. To add a form (including SA108 Capital Gains):
- Tap Select forms (opens Your Return / the form picker).
- Turn on the form you need. Capital Gains is labelled CGT: Capital Gains Tax with sub-label SA108 (available from tax year 2020).
- Save or go back — the form appears in your list.
- Open it from the list and complete the boxes.
If the form is already on, open it from the Your forms list.
Step 3 becomes available when Your Details is complete and a calculation amount is present.
Step 3 — Complete return (“Complete your return”)
This step covers:
- Calculation & Adjustments
- Attach Files
- Finish Off
- Check and Send
Step 3 needs Your Details completed and a calculation amount before you can finish the return.
Green ticks
- Your Details and Pre-fill Forms go green from the API when those sections are complete.
- Form rows go green when the form is done or when you have visited it in this session — a green row can mean visited, not only fully completed.
- Attach Files goes green only when the attachment count is greater than zero.
Attach Files
Attach Files is optional. You can open Check and Send without attachments. When you do attach files, they should generally be the forms HMRC expects — typically HMRC’s own PDF forms for that return — not random supporting evidence. Attached files are included with the return XML when you submit.
Save your work
CalCal saves when you use Save or when you leave a form (a save request is sent). Logging out does not autosave unfinished work — use Save or leave the form so the change is stored.
Check and Send — submit to HMRC
- Open Check and Send and review the return.
- Sign in with your Government Gateway user ID (up to 12 characters) and password. This is Government Gateway — not GOV.UK Verify (Verify is closed), and not your GOV.UK One Login email sign-in. If you already use Government Gateway for HMRC Self Assessment, use those same details. If you only use GOV.UK One Login for HMRC, create a unique Government Gateway user ID for commercial software (HMRC steps: check how to submit using commercial software). Sign in or register for HMRC online services: log in or register.
- Choose Confirm & Submit.
- CalCal polls HMRC for the result.
- On success you open Your Submission with the tax summary and downloads for the submitted year (see the next section).
After HMRC accepts — downloads and email
Once HMRC has accepted your return, CalCal opens Your Submission on Self-assessment Details for that tax year. You will see two tabs: Calculation and Tax Return.
At the bottom of the screen you will find a download icon, together with Amend and Print. Print opens your device’s usual print options.
- On the Calculation tab, the download icon saves your SA302 (tax calculation) PDF. When HMRC has responded, the IRmark is included in that SA302 PDF.
- On the Tax Return tab, the download icon saves your SA Submission PDF — a copy of what you submitted.
You can come back to this screen anytime from Tax → Tax Years → the submitted year, and download again.
After HMRC accepts your return, CalCal also emails both PDFs to the business email on your account. The subject line is Self-assessment Submitted. The email is sent by an hourly process, so it may take a little while to arrive. If you do not see it, check your spam or junk folder. You can always download the same PDFs in CalCal from Your Submission, as above.
Government Gateway for Check and Send
CalCal submits your return with a Government Gateway user ID and password.
- GOV.UK Verify is closed and is not used for filing through CalCal.
- GOV.UK One Login (email and password) is how some people sign into HMRC online — commercial software still needs a Government Gateway user ID. HMRC’s steps to create one are here: Check how to submit a Self Assessment tax return using commercial software.
- Create or recover HMRC sign-in details: Log in or register for HMRC online services.
Quick path
- Tax → Tax Years → choose the year.
- Get set up — Your Details (green) and Pre-fill Forms.
- Fill out your forms — Select forms, turn on what you need (e.g. CGT / SA108), complete each form; ensure a calculation amount exists.
- Complete your return — Calculation & Adjustments, optional Attach Files (HMRC PDF forms), Finish Off.
- Check and Send → Government Gateway → Confirm & Submit.