Class 2 vs Class 4 National Insurance Explained
Confused about Class 2 vs Class 4 National Insurance? Here’s who actually pays each one in 2026/27, and why Class 2 rarely means a bill anymore.
Tax & HMRC
Fifty-odd guides sit under this heading. They answer four questions, in this order.
Do I have to file at all? Whether you need to send a return and what the £1,000 trading allowance actually covers settle it for most people. Side income from a platform has its own wrinkle: Vinted, eBay and Etsy now report sellers to HMRC, and the line between a hobby and a business is not about how you describe it.
How do I file it? Filing your first Self Assessment, step by step is the sequence, including the 5 October registration deadline that catches people four months before they think about tax. Your UTR arrives by post around fifteen days after you register, so the order matters. Which return you are filing and when it is due, and if you miss it, what the penalties actually come to.
What do I owe, and what can I take off? Income tax bands for 2026/27, National Insurance, and how much to set aside as you go. On the other side: allowable expenses, the ones that are not allowable, simplified flat rates and capital allowances. If the bill is over £1,000, payments on account add half again — and you can reduce them when the year is going to be worse.
What is changing? Making Tax Digital for Income Tax is the big one, with quarterly deadlines and a points-based penalty system that works nothing like the old one. And if you cannot pay, Time to Pay exists and works better before the deadline than after.
Every figure on these pages links to its HMRC source and carries the date it was checked. General information, not tax advice.
Do I Need to File a Tax Return? The £1,000 Rule
Who must send a UK Self Assessment return, straight from HMRC’s list — and why the £1,000 threshold is measured before you take off expenses.
Can’t Pay Your Tax Bill? HMRC Time to Pay Explained (2026)
HMRC Time to Pay and the Budget Payment Plan explained: what you need, what HMRC asks, and why setting one up before the deadline costs nothing.
Marriage Allowance for Freelancers: Free 4-Year Backdate
Marriage Allowance cuts a couple’s tax by up to £252 a year and backdates to April 2022. The test is profit, not turnover — which is why sole traders miss it.
Capital Allowances for Sole Traders: 2026/27 Rules
Capital allowances for sole traders: the private use restriction, what you cannot claim AIA on, and why the year you buy is the year that counts.
How Long to Keep Business Records (HMRC Rules)
How long UK sole traders must keep business records, what counts as a record, and what to do if yours are lost — with HMRC’s own worked example.
Student Loan Repayments for the Self-Employed
Student loan repayment thresholds for 2026, and why self-employment changes the calculation: HMRC uses your whole-year combined income, not month by month.
Cash Basis vs Traditional Accounting for 2026/27
Cash basis versus traditional accounting for UK sole traders. Cash basis is now the default, and it means never paying tax on an invoice that has not been paid.
VAT Registration Threshold: The £90,000 Rule
When you must register for VAT in the UK, both triggers explained with HMRC’s own examples — and why registering late means paying VAT you never charged.
Simplified Expenses: HMRC Flat Rates for 2026/27
Simplified expenses flat rates for 2026/27. Mileage rose to 55p for the first 10,000 miles, and the home-working rate has a 25-hour gate most people miss.
Self-Employed Tax Rates 2026/27: What You Actually Pay
Self-employed tax rates for 2026/27: no single rate exists — Income Tax and Class 4 NI both land on the same profit. Combined totals, and the 62p band.
The £1,000 Trading Allowance Explained
Earn under £1,000 from a side project and you usually need not tell HMRC at all. Over it, you choose between the allowance and expenses — which wins?