Question 1

How much tax does a self-employed person pay in the UK?

Accepted Answer

Self-employed people in the UK pay Income Tax and Class 4 National Insurance on their taxable profit. Profit is calculated as gross income minus allowable expenses and mileage allowance. With the 2026-2027 Personal Allowance of £12,570, many part-time workers pay very little tax. For example, someone earning £35,000 with £8,500 expenses and 12,000 business miles would pay approximately £2,322 in tax and NIC.

Question 2

What expenses can self-employed people claim?

Accepted Answer

Self-employed people can claim 14 categories of allowable expenses: fuel, vehicle repairs and maintenance, insurance, road tax, licence fees, cleaning, phone costs, parking and tolls, vehicle finance, accountancy fees, advertising, bank charges, training, and other business costs. All must be exclusively for business use.

Question 3

How does mileage allowance work for self-employed people?

Accepted Answer

HMRC allows you to claim 45p per mile for the first 10,000 business miles and 25p per mile for every mile after that. This is called Mileage Allowance Relief (MAR). Important: you must choose between claiming mileage allowance OR actual vehicle costs -- you cannot use both methods for the same vehicle in the same tax year.

Question 4

When is the Self Assessment deadline for self-employed people?

Accepted Answer

For the 2026-2027 tax year (6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027), the online Self Assessment deadline is 31 January 2028. With Making Tax Digital (MTD), quarterly updates are due in July, October, January, and April.

Question 5

Do I need to pay National Insurance as a self-employed person?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Self-employed people pay Class 4 NIC at 6% on profits between £12,570 and £50,270, and 2% on profits above £50,270. Class 2 NIC is no longer payable automatically: since April 2024, profits above the small profits threshold earn your National Insurance credit for free, and you only pay Class 2 voluntarily (currently £3.65 per week) if your profits are below that threshold and you want to protect your State Pension record.

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