Tax topic

Self-employed tax guidance

Practical guidance for sole traders on registration, trading income, records, tax and digital reporting.

Get the foundations right

Register as self-employed

Check whether the activity is a trade, whether gross income exceeds £1,000 and how to use HMRC’s route.

Understand the trading allowance

Compare the £1,000 allowance with actual expenses and check the exclusions.

Use the sole-trader tax calculator for an estimate. Making Tax Digital has separate qualifying-income and digital-record rules: check the MTD guide.

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