Fiscal year calculator
| Jurisdiction | Year starts | Their Q1 |
|---|---|---|
| Calendar / most of EU | 1 January | Jan – Mar |
| UK, corporation tax | 1 April | Apr – Jun |
| UK — personal tax | 6 April | Apr – Jul |
| Japan, India | 1 April | Apr – Jun |
| Australia, New Zealand | 1 July | Jul – Sep |
| US federal government | 1 October | Oct – Dec |
| Many US retailers | Late January or February | Feb – Apr |
A fiscal year is any twelve-month accounting period, and it need not start in January. The UK corporation tax year starts 1 April, the US federal year 1 October, and Australia 1 July, so the same date sits in different quarters depending on whose year you mean.
How to work out a fiscal quarter
Retailers often use a 52/53-week fiscal year rather than calendar months, so their year ends on the same weekday annually and one year in five or six has 53 weeks. It keeps week-on-week comparisons clean — a Saturday is always compared against a Saturday. At the cost of an occasional extra week that makes annual growth look better than it was. Anyone reading retail results should check which kind of year is in use.
Questions
6 April for individuals, 1 April for corporation tax.
1 October, so their Q1 runs October to December.
A retail convention ending on the same weekday each year, which means one year in five or six has 53 weeks.
Historical accident and trading cycles. Retailers avoid ending a year mid-Christmas; agriculture follows harvests.
Yes. Offset the calendar quarter by however many months your year start differs.