Self Employed – the easiest form of running a business in the UK. Self-employed people pay National Insurance and Income Tax for themselves.
Income Tax is calculated from earned profit from which a personal allowance is deducted. Personal allowance may change every year, for the year 2024/2025 it is £ 12,570
There are three tax thresholds, please see below for tax percentages:
|
Band |
Taxable income |
Tax rate |
|
Personal Allowance |
Up to £12,570 |
0% |
|
Basic rate |
£12,571 to £50,270 |
20% |
|
Higher rate |
£50,271 to £125,140 |
40% |
|
Additional rate |
over £125,140 |
45% |
All self-employed are required to do a Self-Assessment when the financial year ends.
You may pay National Insurance if you’re self-employed:
Class 2 contributions are treated as having been paid if your profits are £6,725 or more a year
Class 4 contributions must be paid if your profits are £12,570 or more a year
How much you pay
Class Rate for tax year 2024/2025
Class 2 £3.45 a week ( you can choose to pay voluntary if your profit are less than £6,725)
Class 4 6% on profits between £12,570 up to £50,270
2% on profits over £50,270
As a Self-Employed you can employ people, however, you will need to register for PAYE Scheme.
If your turnover (not to be mistaken with profit) exceeds £90,000 (amount accurate at the time of writing 1st March 2025) you must register for VAT. You may do this without reaching the threshold if it is beneficial to your business.
Prices for Self-Employment services:
Self-Employment registration £57
Self-Assessment Tax Return from £90
Closing the business £61
Partnership
Perfect solution if 2 or more people (maximum of 20) decide to run a business together. Partnership can be in place for a period (for a given project) or can be run continuously. Partners share between them the risk, costs and responsibility of running the business. Each partner must be registered for self assessment where they report shares of the profit received from partnership. Owners are responsible for the business with their all possessions.