Self Assessment for beauty therapists

Register, file, pay

1. Register for Self Assessment if your gross trading income is over £1,000 in a tax year. Deadline to tell HMRC is 5 October after that year ends (5 October 2026 for 2025/26).
2. Keep income and expense records as you go. HMRC can ask for them for at least five years after the 31 January filing deadline.
3. File the online return by 31 January 2027 for 2025/26 (paper was 31 October 2026). Pay the balancing payment the same day.
4. If last year’s bill was over £1,000, Payment on Account is due 31 January and 31 July, each 50% of that bill.

Full deadline calendar and penalty ladder.

What goes on the self-employment pages (SA103)

Turnover is treatments, kit sales, kept deposits and tips paid to you. Product used on clients is purchases. Equipment can be expenses or capital allowances depending how you account. Mileage is motoring at the flat rate if you chose that method for the car.

Deadlines and penalties

Miss the online deadline and the late-filing penalty is £100 immediately, even if you owe no tax. After three months it is £10 a day (capped at £900). At six and twelve months HMRC add 5% of the tax due or £300, whichever is greater. Late payment is a separate 5% at 30 days, six months and twelve months, plus interest.

Mistakes beauty therapists make on the return

• Missing Instagram deposits that never went through the booking app.
• Claiming the whole family car.
• No insurance deducted because it was paid from the personal account. It is still a business cost if the policy is for the trade.
• Treating a house treatment room as 100% business when it is also the spare bedroom.
• Filing nothing because “I hardly earned anything” after a quiet maternity year. If you were registered, you usually still file.

If you stopped trading, tell HMRC. A return that says zero is better than a return that never arrives, but closing the trade is cleaner if you have actually stopped.

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