Certifying income to support a loan or mortgage application

Published: Wed, 01/14/15


Hi ,

If you are applying for a loan or mortgage you know how frustrating it can be waiting for your accountant to certify your income.

And since the rules for obtaining a mortgage were tightened up, prospective borrowers have had to produce evidence from HMRC to prove their income. It is no longer sufficient for a potential borrower to have confirmation of income from an accountant together with a print of the tax calculation from the accountant’s software. Form SA302 (summary of annual income and tax calculation) has become the official HMRC document needed to provide evidence.

From January 2015, most mortgage lenders will know that self-employed individuals with a self assessment online account, can provide proof of their income by downloading copies of two documents from the HMRC online service, which will be the evidence they need to support a mortgage application. These are:
  • the Tax Calculation, and
  • the Tax Year Overview
An important announcement on the HMRC website explains how your
accountant can now also print these documents, which are acceptable to support a loan or mortgage application you are making, where the lender requires the confirmation from your accountant.

The HMRC instructions explain the process as follows: To print a Tax Calculation
  1.      Follow the link 'tax return options'.
  2.      Choose the year from the drop down menu.
  3.      Follow the link 'view calculation'.
  4.      Follow the link 'view and print your calculation'.
  5.      Follow the link 'print your full calculation' - you can currently view and print        up to 2 years but this will increase to 3 years from April 2015 and 4 years          from April 2016.
  6.      You must wait 72 hours after fully submitting your return until you can print        your documents.
For a transitional period, HMRC will also continue to supply paper copies (and may also fax copies if your accountant has a 64-8 in place) on request.

Where your accountant uses third party software, rather than the HMRC filing system, we understand that some may be experiencing difficulty in accessing your SA302. Until HMRC fix this problem you can either download the form yourself or ask HMRC to fax it.





Noel Guilford