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 everything clients paid for your tattooing, including cash, tips, kept deposits, guest-spot fees and shop sales if they are part of the same trade. Expenses go in the usual boxes: raw materials, rent, travel, other. Chair rent is rent, not “cost of goods”. Do not net rent off the takings box.

If you also have a PAYE bar job, that employment goes in a different section. The self-employment pages are only the tattooing.

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 tattoo artists make on the return

  • Putting the amount the studio transferred to you as turnover, instead of the client total.
  • Ignoring cash Saturdays and then being unable to explain the lifestyle if HMRC asks.
  • No mileage log for guest spots, then guessing 8,000 miles in January.
  • Missing Payment on Account after the first year over £1,000 tax, so January is a shock.
  • Filing late because the UTR letter is “somewhere in a drawer”. Register and chase it; the 31 January clock does not wait.

If you started tattooing for yourself this tax year, register as soon as you know you will clear £1,000 of takings. The UTR arrives by post. You cannot file without it.

← Tattoo artist tax overview · Expenses · Do I need to register?

Common questions

The studio pays me. Do they do my tax?

Only if you are on their payroll. A transfer labelled “wages” that is really a share of takings is still your self-employment income.

What if I have not registered yet and I have been tattooing for two years?

Register now. Late notification can mean a penalty based on unpaid tax. Waiting until you “feel ready” makes it worse.