Tax & Accounting
Tax & Accounting
14 ChatGPT Prompts for UK Tax Planning and Self-Assessment
Fourteen ChatGPT prompts to help you prepare for Self-Assessment, understand HMRC letters, and organise your records -- not a substitute for an accountant.
At a glance
- 14 prompts
- 6 min read
Works best in
ChatGPT
Claude
Gemini
Google AI Mode
Perplexity
Jump to a prompt 14
- Turn a messy list of expenses into categories
- Build a checklist of documents you'll need
- Explain a term in plain English
- Turn a year of bank statements into a spending summary
- Translate an HMRC letter into plain English
- Draft a query to send to HMRC or your accountant
- Understand a penalty or interest notice
- Build a savings plan for a tax bill
- Compare two structures at a conceptual level
- Turn a vague worry into a specific question for a professional
- Draft a year-end review of your own finances
- Design a simple record-keeping system
- Write the reminder you'll actually read
- Turn receipt photos into a spending log format
14 ChatGPT Prompts for UK Tax Planning and Self-Assessment
Before you use any of these: these prompts help you organise, understand, and prepare — they don't replace an accountant or file anything with HMRC on your behalf. UK tax rules change most tax years, and AI models can be out of date or simply wrong about thresholds and allowances. Always check current figures on gov.uk or with a qualified accountant before you act on anything a prompt produces.
With that said: a huge amount of the stress around Self-Assessment isn't the tax itself, it's the admin around it — working out what you actually need to report, turning a shoebox of receipts into something usable, and understanding letters from HMRC that seem designed to be unreadable. That's where these prompts help.
Getting organised before you start
Turn a messy list of expenses into categories
Fill in the blanks below, or click a highlighted word in the prompt.
I'm going to paste a list of business expenses in no particular order. Group them into categories that match typical Self-Assessment expense categories (e.g. office costs, travel, professional fees, subsistence). Flag anything that looks like it might not be a straightforward allowable expense with "(check this one)".
EXPENSES:
[paste your list]Build a checklist of documents you'll need
I am [employment status, e.g. "self-employed as a freelance designer" / "employed plus a small side business" / "a landlord with one rental property"]. Build me a checklist of the documents and figures I should gather before starting my Self-Assessment return, in the order I'd realistically need them.Explain a term in plain English
Explain [term, e.g. "payments on account" / "the trading allowance" / "Class 2 vs Class 4 National Insurance"] as if to someone doing their first tax return, with a short concrete example using round numbers. Tell me if this is something I should confirm with gov.uk since rules change.Turn a year of bank statements into a spending summary
Fill in the blanks below, or click a highlighted word in the prompt.
I'm going to paste transaction descriptions from my bank statement. Group them into likely categories (income, business expense, personal, unclear) so I can review them faster. Don't guess amounts, just group what I give you.
TRANSACTIONS:
[paste a list of transaction descriptions]Understanding HMRC communication
Translate an HMRC letter into plain English
Here is a letter I received from HMRC. Explain in plain English: what they're asking for, what happens if I don't respond, and any deadline mentioned. Do not tell me what to do, just explain what the letter says.
LETTER TEXT:
[paste the letter, removing your National Insurance number and any other sensitive identifiers first]Draft a query to send to HMRC or your accountant
Fill in the blanks below, or click a highlighted word in the prompt.
I need to ask [HMRC / my accountant] about [describe your situation and question]. Write a clear, specific message that gives them enough context to answer without me having to go back and forth. Keep it factual, not apologetic.Understand a penalty or interest notice
Fill in the blanks below, or click a highlighted word in the prompt.
I've received a notice about [a late filing penalty / interest on unpaid tax]. Explain what typically causes this kind of notice, and what the general process is for appealing if someone believes there's a reasonable excuse -- and remind me to verify the current appeal process on gov.uk since it can change.Planning ahead
Build a savings plan for a tax bill
Fill in the blanks below, or click a highlighted word in the prompt.
I expect to owe roughly [amount] in tax by [date]. I get paid [frequency, e.g. "monthly", "irregularly"]. Suggest a savings approach -- like a fixed percentage set aside per payment -- so the bill doesn't come as a shock. Keep the maths simple and show your working.Compare two structures at a conceptual level
I'm trying to understand, at a conceptual level, the general differences between operating as a sole trader versus a limited company in the UK -- not specific numbers, just the shape of the tradeoffs (admin burden, how profit is taxed, flexibility). Remind me this needs confirming with an accountant before I decide anything.Turn a vague worry into a specific question for a professional
Fill in the blanks below, or click a highlighted word in the prompt.
I have a vague worry about [describe the worry, e.g. "whether I should be VAT registered"]. Help me turn this into 3 specific, well-formed questions I could take to an accountant, so the conversation is efficient rather than me trying to explain a feeling.Draft a year-end review of your own finances
Fill in the blanks below, or click a highlighted word in the prompt.
Here's a rough summary of my income and expenses for the year:
[paste a summary]
Write this up as a short year-end review I can read before my accountant meeting: what changed versus a typical year, what looks unusual, and what questions I should be ready to answer.Record-keeping habits
Design a simple record-keeping system
Fill in the blanks below, or click a highlighted word in the prompt.
I currently keep track of business income and expenses by [describe your current, probably messy, method]. Suggest a simple, low-effort system I could realistically stick to, given that I [describe your constraints, e.g. "am not good with spreadsheets" / "am often on the move"].Write the reminder you'll actually read
Write me a short quarterly reminder message to myself about tax admin tasks I should be doing (saving receipts, setting aside tax, checking mileage), written in a tone that will actually make me act rather than skim past it.Turn receipt photos into a spending log format
Fill in the blanks below, or click a highlighted word in the prompt.
I'm going to describe what's on a receipt in my own words. Turn each one into a single structured log line: Date | Amount | Category | Note. Ask me if any required field is missing rather than guessing.
RECEIPT DESCRIPTIONS:
[describe your receipts one by one]Official source: HMRC on GOV.UK
Frequently asked questions
Can ChatGPT actually file my Self-Assessment return?
No. These prompts help you organise information and understand it in plain English, but filing has to go through HMRC's own systems or an accountant. Treat AI output here as a first draft of your understanding, not a final answer.
Why do so many of these prompts say "check this with an accountant"?
Because tax rules, thresholds, and allowances change, sometimes mid-year, and a language model's knowledge has a cutoff date. The prompts are genuinely useful for organising and explaining — they're not reliable for "is this number correct right now," and treating them that way is the single most common mistake people make with AI and tax.
What information should I never paste into a prompt like this?
Strip out your National Insurance number, Unique Taxpayer Reference, full bank account numbers, and full address before pasting anything from a real letter or statement. None of it is needed for the prompt to work.