SALF511 | Self Assessment for partnerships: responsibilities of individual partners

Under self assessment each partner is responsible for paying the tax due on his or her own share of the partnership profits and gains. This tax will be computed in a self assessment in the normal way.

Because each partner is individually responsible for his or her own tax it is possible for one partner to settle his or her own tax affairs even though a fellow partner has failed to deliver a tax return, or has a tax return under enquiry for reasons completely unconnected with the partnership (but see the third and fourth paragraphs under Any enquiry into a partnership statement automatically extends to the partners’ own tax returns in SALF507).

There is no joint liability for the tax due on partnership profits. If a particular partner fails to pay the tax due on a share of partnership profits HMRC are only able to take sanctions (and ultimately recovery proceedings) against that partner, and that partner alone (but see Partnership trading in the UK which includes resident and non-resident members is treated as UK representative of non-resident partners in SALF704 about non-resident partners).