Tax, NI & self-assessment
Simple tips for new freelancers to help you manage your tax when you’re self-employed.
Freelancers – the tax situation
When you’re self-employed, you are responsible for sorting out your own tax. You do this through a process called self-assessment.
To self-assess, you need to register.
When you register as self-employed, you’ll have to start paying national insurance – a small weekly payment.
Starting out and getting registered
Once you start freelancing, you have until 5 October after the tax year when you started to register. Otherwise you risk a penalty fine. So if you started working between 6 April 2017 and 5 April 2018, you should have registered by 5 October 2018. Don’t worry if you didn’t though – as long as you pay your tax by the deadline you won’t be fined.
That all important self-assessment deadline
Once you’ve declared that you’re self-employed, you have to file a tax return every year. This is all done online. There are deadlines you must keep to – they’re all here.
Getting help if you’re worried about tax
The information on the GOV.UK website is improving, but sometimes you just have to contact HMRC. Be prepared for frustration – every year, HMRC gets embarrassing criticism for the long wait times on its helpline.
