How to get your SA302 from HMRC, step by step
Almost everyone who lands here is doing the same thing: a mortgage lender has asked for an "SA302" and you need to find it today. So here is the short version first, then the detail underneath for the cases where it does not go smoothly.
Before you start: two documents, not one
Lenders almost never want just the SA302. They want a matched pair for each year:
- the tax calculation (the SA302), which shows how your tax was worked out; and
- the Tax Year Overview, which confirms HMRC actually received and processed that return.
The calculation on its own could in principle be a return you filed but never had accepted. The Tax Year Overview is the receipt that proves it landed. If you send only one, expect the lender to come back and ask for the other, which is the single most common reason this drags on. There is a fuller comparison in our guide to the SA302 versus the Tax Year Overview.
Route 1: you filed yourself, using HMRC's online service
This is the most common case and the only one where the SA302 itself prints from your HMRC account.
- Sign in to your HMRC online account with your Government Gateway user ID.
- Go to Self Assessment. (If Self Assessment is the only tax you are registered for, you may land there automatically.)
- Choose "More details about your Self Assessment returns and payments". This is the step people miss: the calculation is not on the first screen.
- Pick the tax year you need.
- Open the tax calculation and print it, or save it as a PDF with your browser's "print to PDF" option.
- Go back and repeat for the Tax Year Overview for the same year.
Then do the whole thing again for each year the lender asked for. Most want two or three years.
Route 2: you or your accountant used commercial software
If the return went to HMRC through commercial software rather than the HMRC website, the tax calculation generally will not appear in your HMRC online account. It prints from the software instead, and it may not be called an SA302 in there. Look for "tax computation", "tax calculation" or similar wording.
So the split is:
- Tax calculation: from the software, or from your accountant if they filed for you.
- Tax Year Overview: still from your HMRC online account, exactly as in Route 1.
If you are chasing an accountant, ask for both documents for every year at once. Asking year by year is how a two day job becomes a two week one.
Route 3: you filed on paper, or cannot get online
Paper filers will not have these documents to print. Contact HMRC's Self Assessment helpline and ask them to send the tax calculation for the years you need. Build in time for post: this is the slow route, and it is worth starting it the day the lender asks rather than the day before the deadline.
Getting previous years
The two documents have different histories, which surprises people:
- Tax calculations (SA302): the last 4 years. Beyond that you will need to contact HMRC.
- Tax Year Overviews: any year for which a return was filed.
If a lender asks for something older than four years, that gap is the reason you may only be able to produce the overview. Tell them early rather than going quiet.
Will your lender accept a document you printed yourself?
Usually yes. HMRC publishes a list of mortgage providers and lenders who have agreed to accept self-printed tax calculations and Tax Year Overviews, including ones printed by your accountant.
One thing almost every other guide gets wrong about that list: it has not been updated since June 2020. It is still useful as evidence that self-printed documents are normal and acceptable, but it is not a current directory. Lenders have merged, launched and changed policy since. Treat the list as background and ask your actual lender or broker what they want. HMRC's own page says the same thing: always check with the provider.
When it does not work
The usual causes, in the order they are worth checking:
- It has been less than 72 hours since you filed. Nothing you do will make the documents appear sooner. Wait.
- The return for that year was never filed. No filed return means no calculation exists. An estimate, including anything produced by this site, is not a substitute and no lender will take one.
- You are in the wrong account. Check you are in your personal Self Assessment area rather than a business tax account. People with a limited company often have both and sign into the wrong one.
- You filed through software. See Route 2. The calculation is not missing, it is somewhere else.
- The figures do not match between the two documents. An SA302 and a Tax Year Overview for the same year should agree. If they do not, the usual explanation is that the return was amended after filing, so one document predates the change. Ask HMRC to confirm which version is current before sending anything to a lender.
What a valid document shows
Before you send anything, check the printout actually shows your name, your Unique Taxpayer Reference, the tax year, and the full calculation from total income down to the Income Tax and National Insurance due. A screenshot that crops off the header is the other classic reason underwriters send paperwork back.
Sanity-checking the number before it goes anywhere
It is worth understanding the figure you are about to hand a lender, particularly if it looks higher or lower than you expected. Our estimator follows the same line order HMRC uses, from total income through allowances and the tax bands to Class 2 and Class 4 National Insurance, so you can put your numbers in and see where each part of the total comes from. If our estimate and your real SA302 are far apart, that is usually a sign something on the return is not what you assumed, and it is much better to find that out now than during underwriting.
To be completely clear: this site produces estimates for your own understanding. The document your lender needs is the one from HMRC or your accountant, and there is no substitute for it.
Frequently asked questions
How do I get my SA302 from HMRC online?
Sign in to your HMRC online account, go to Self Assessment, then choose “More details about your Self Assessment returns and payments”. Select the tax year and print or save the tax calculation, then repeat for the Tax Year Overview.
Can I download an SA302 online?
Yes, if you filed through HMRC's own online service. There is no download button as such: you open the calculation and save it as a PDF using your browser's print option. If the return was filed through commercial software, the calculation prints from that software instead.
Where do I find the SA302 on the Government Gateway?
It is not on the first screen after signing in. Go to Self Assessment, then “More details about your Self Assessment returns and payments”, and the tax calculation and Tax Year Overview are both available from there.
Do HMRC still provide the SA302?
Yes. HMRC still produces the tax calculation, but the expectation now is that you print it yourself from your online account rather than being sent a paper copy. If you filed on paper or cannot get online, contact HMRC's Self Assessment helpline and ask them to send it.
How many years of SA302 can I get?
The last 4 years of tax calculations, once the returns for those years have been filed. Tax Year Overviews are available for any year with a filed return, so the two documents do not go back equally far.
How long after filing can I get my SA302?
72 hours. Nothing appears in your account before then, however many times you refresh.