Self Assessment for hairdressers

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 cuts, colour, treatments and retail you sold, before chair rent and before app commission if you add those as expenses. Materials (colour) go in purchases. Chair rent is premises/other. Mileage is motoring if you use the flat rate. Do not dump everything in “other” unless you keep a working paper that unpacks it.

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 hairdressers make on the return

• Declaring Treatwell or Fresha payouts without adding back or claiming commission consistently.
• No mileage log for mobile work, then a round 5,000 miles.
• Missing cash tips left on the trolley.
• Claiming the family car’s full insurance because “I am mobile”.
• Not telling HMRC about a side mobile business while still on salon PAYE.

Bridal season can dump three months of income into one quarter. Set money aside when it lands, not when January feels close. Payments on Account do not care that March was quiet.

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