Tax for Private Tutors in the UK (2026 to 2027 Rules)

If you tutor privately, for yourself, the money is self-employment income and the profit is taxable. Up to £1,000 a year of gross trading income is covered by the trading allowance, and you do not need to tell HMRC about it unless an exception applies. Above £1,000, register for Self Assessment by 5 October after the tax year ends. Making Tax Digital for Income Tax has applied since 6 April 2026 to sole traders whose qualifying income was over £50,000 in the 2024 to 2025 tax year, and applies from 6 April 2027 to those over £30,000 in 2025 to 2026.

Figures checked on 6 November 2026 from GOV.UK, for the 2026 to 2027 tax year (6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027) unless a date says otherwise. General information, not tax advice: your own position depends on all your income, so check with HMRC or an accountant.

Teamlilit makes scheduling and invoicing software for tutors. We are not accountants, and Teamlilit is not Making Tax Digital software.

Do private tutors pay tax?

GOV.UK lists tutoring among the services whose income you may need to tell HMRC about, alongside dog walking and cleaning. You pay Income Tax on "profits you make if you're self-employed, including from services you sell through websites or apps", and the first £1,000 of income from self-employment is your trading allowance. Tutoring income is added to any other trading income you have, such as babysitting, before you compare it with the £1,000.

You can tutor and be employed at the same time: GOV.UK's own example is working for an employer during the day and running your own business in the evenings. Your salary is taxed through PAYE and the tutoring through Self Assessment.

Income Tax is due on income above your Personal Allowance, which is £12,570 as standard for 2026 to 2027. Outside Scotland, the basic rate is 20% on taxable income from £12,571 to £50,270 and the higher rate is 40% from £50,271 to £125,140. If you live in Scotland you pay Scottish Income Tax, which has its own bands and rates.

Three examples of which rules apply. They are illustrations, not advice:

• A sixth-former who earns £800 a year from tutoring. If that is all their trading income for the tax year, it is within the £1,000 trading allowance, so GOV.UK says they do not need to tell HMRC unless an exception applies. They should still keep a record of what they were paid: GOV.UK's examples of records include "a diary or appointments book showing your income from each customer". If they also babysit, that income counts towards the same £1,000.
• A teacher who earns £6,000 a year tutoring privately, on top of a salary. The tutoring is over £1,000, so it goes on a Self Assessment return. They take off either the £1,000 trading allowance or their actual expenses, not both. Income Tax on the tutoring profit depends on their total income, salary included. Class 4 National Insurance is due only on profits over £12,570, so none is due on this. Making Tax Digital counts self-employment and property income, not a salary, so at £6,000 they are exempt. One exception: if the tutoring is paid by their own employer, GOV.UK says they cannot use the trading allowance.
• A full-time tutor with turnover of £32,000 a year, in 2025 to 2026 and again in 2026 to 2027. Turnover is income before expenses, and it is the figure Making Tax Digital uses: over £30,000 in 2025 to 2026 means using it from 6 April 2027. For 2026 to 2027, if their profit is £7,105 or more, Class 2 National Insurance is treated as paid; Class 4 is 6% of the profit between £12,570 and £50,270; and Income Tax applies above the Personal Allowance. Unless last year's tax bill was under £1,000, or more than 80% of it was paid outside Self Assessment, they also make payments on account towards the next year's bill. If every lesson is their own private tuition in a school subject, the income is exempt from VAT and does not count towards the £90,000 VAT threshold.

The £1,000 trading allowance

The trading allowance is "a tax exemption of up to £1,000 a year" for individuals with trading income from self-employment, casual services such as babysitting, or hiring out personal equipment.

£1,000 or less. You do not need to tell HMRC about it, unless you cannot use the allowance or you must register for Self Assessment for another reason. Keep a record of the income anyway.

The £1,000 is gross. GOV.UK says gross income is "the total amount you would put on your tax return before any allowances or expenses are taken off". So £1,200 of lessons with £300 of costs is over the limit.

More than £1,000. You must register for Self Assessment by 5 October in the following tax year. On your return you then choose: take off the £1,000 allowance, or take off your actual expenses. You cannot deduct any other expenses if you claim the allowance, and it cannot take off more than your income. If your expenses are more than your income, GOV.UK says claiming expenses may be better; and if they come to more than £1,000, claiming them takes off more than the allowance would.

When you cannot use it. GOV.UK says you cannot use the allowance in a tax year if you have trade income from your employer or your spouse's or civil partner's employer, from a company you or someone connected to you owns or controls, or from a partnership where you or someone connected to you is a partner.

When to register below £1,000. You must register and send a return if you have made a loss and want to claim relief, or if you want to pay voluntary Class 2 National Insurance "to help qualify for some benefits". You can also send a return to prove you are self-employed, for example to claim Tax-Free Childcare or Maternity Allowance.

Registering and filing: the dates

GOV.UK's deadlines page shows the dates for the 2025 to 2026 tax year, the return due now. The 2026 to 2027 dates follow the same rules a year later; we worked them out from those rules.

If you register late. HMRC sends you a deadline for the return "3 months from the date on the letter or email", but the tax is still due by 31 January. Registering after 5 October can also mean a penalty.

Late penalties. A late return gets "an initial £100 penalty", then after 3 months £10 a day up to £900, with more after 6 and 12 months. Late payment adds 5% of the unpaid tax at 30 days, 6 months and 12 months, plus interest.

Payments on account. These are two advance payments towards your next bill, each "half of the tax you owed last year", due on 31 January and 31 July, and they include Class 4 National Insurance. You do not make them if last year's tax bill was under £1,000, or if more than 80% of it was paid outside Self Assessment, for example through your tax code. In your first year this can mean a large January payment: in GOV.UK's example, a first bill of £3,000 means £4,500 by 31 January (the £3,000 plus a first payment on account of £1,500), then another £1,500 on 31 July.

National Insurance

Self-employed National Insurance depends on your profits, which are your self-employed income minus your expenses. For 2026 to 2027:

Most people pay Class 2 and Class 4 through Self Assessment, with their Income Tax. As an example, profits of £20,000 in 2026 to 2027 mean Class 4 of 6% on £7,430 (£20,000 minus £12,570), which is £445.80.

If you also mark or invigilate exams, or set exam questions. GOV.UK says that work has its own Special Class 4 National Insurance, which you cannot pay through Self Assessment: "To arrange payment, you must contact the National Insurance office."

Expenses a tutor can claim

Allowable expenses are taken off your income before tax. GOV.UK's example: turnover of £40,000 and £10,000 of allowable expenses means Income Tax on £30,000. You cannot claim expenses if you use the £1,000 trading allowance.

What GOV.UK lists, in the categories a tutor is likely to use:

• Travel. Fuel, parking, and train, bus, tram, air and taxi fares. Instead of working out the actual costs of a car, you can use the mileage flat rate: for 2026 to 2027, 55p a mile for the first 10,000 business miles (it was 45p before 6 April 2026) and 25p after that. Once you use the flat rate for a vehicle, you must keep using it for that vehicle, and you can claim parking and fares on top.
• Office costs. Phone and internet bills, postage, stationery, printing, and printer ink. Software your business uses for less than 2 years, or pays for regularly to renew the licence.
• Equipment you keep, such as a computer or printer: an allowable expense if you use cash basis accounting, the default for sole traders (see records, below).
• Working from home. A share of heating, electricity, Council Tax, mortgage interest or rent, internet and phone, divided by a reasonable method such as rooms used or time spent. Or, if you work 25 hours or more a month from home, a flat rate: £10 a month for 25 to 50 hours, £18 for 51 to 100 and £26 for 101 or more. The flat rate leaves out phone and internet, whose business share you can claim on top.
• Training that helps you "improve skills and knowledge you currently use for your business", but not a course to start a new business or move into an area not related to it.
• Subscriptions to trade or professional journals, and "trade body or professional organisation membership if related to your business".
• Financial costs such as insurance and bank charges. Our UK tutor insurance guide covers what insurers sell to tutors.
• Advertising and marketing, such as website costs.

What you cannot claim:

• Everyday clothing such as suits, shirts, dresses or ordinary shoes, "even if you wear them for work".
• The personal share of a cost. GOV.UK's example: of £200 of phone bills, £70 were business calls, so you claim £70.
• Travel between home and work, non-business travel, and fines.
• Gym membership, payments to political parties and donations to charity.

GOV.UK does not list tutoring items such as textbooks or past papers by name. If you are not sure whether a cost is allowable, GOV.UK's advice is to contact HMRC.

Do tutors charge VAT?

Not on their own lessons in a school or university subject. HMRC's VAT Notice 701/30, section 6 covers "private tuition supplied by an individual teacher, working in a personal capacity". It is "an exempt supply of private tuition" when the teacher is a sole trader or partner and "the subject is one taught regularly in a number of schools or universities".

Tutors you take on. If you bring in other teachers, the notice says "the tuition that others deliver is standard-rated". You then either split your income between exempt and taxable tuition by a fair method, or treat all of it as taxable.

What you sell with the lessons. Goods or services supplied with private tuition that are not an integral part of it are standard-rated.

Registering for VAT. You must register if your taxable turnover for the last 12 months goes over £90,000, or you expect it to in the next 30 days. Exempt sales are not taxable turnover, and GOV.UK says "you do not have to register if you only sell VAT exempt or 'out of scope' goods and services". Tuition that does not meet the notice's test is not exempt under it, and taxable sales count towards the £90,000.

Do tutoring platforms report my income to HMRC?

If they count as digital platforms, yes. Since 1 January 2024, digital platform operators may need to collect and check details about people who sell on them, including people who "provide personal services", and report their income to HMRC.

Which sites count. GOV.UK's test for a digital platform has two parts: the site connects sellers to customers, and it holds or can easily calculate the amount paid to sellers. A site that takes the family's payment and passes it on to you meets both. A site that "only allows users to list or advertise", where the family pays you directly and the site does not know the amount, is not a digital platform. GOV.UK does not list which tutoring sites report.

What happens. A platform asks for your name, address, date of birth and National Insurance number. It reports your income to HMRC each year, by the January after the calendar year, and must give you a copy. The small-seller exception (fewer than 30 sales and 2,000 euros or less) covers goods only and "does not apply to: the provision of services", so a platform that reports includes tutors whatever they earn.

What it means for you. "A platform reporting your details to HMRC does not automatically mean you owe tax", and the report does not replace your own records. It covers the calendar year, less the platform's fees, so you work out your income for the tax year (6 April to 5 April) yourself.

Making Tax Digital for tutors

Making Tax Digital for Income Tax applies to sole traders registered for Self Assessment whose qualifying income is over the threshold:

Qualifying income is your total income from self-employment and property, before expenses, based on your last tax return. A salary from employment (PAYE) does not count. If you are in your first year and have traded for 6 months, HMRC doubles your income to compare it with the threshold. If your qualifying income is £20,000 or less, you are automatically exempt. There are other exemptions, for example if you are digitally excluded; if exempt, you keep sending a Self Assessment return as now.

How you find out. HMRC checks your return each year and writes to you if you are over the threshold. If you did not get a letter, GOV.UK says "it is still your responsibility to check". GOV.UK says that from September 2026 HMRC will start signing up anyone who needs it for 2026 to 2027 and has not signed up. You can also sign up voluntarily before you need to. To see whether a year of lessons will take you over £20,000 or £30,000, the tutor earnings calculator projects a year's income from your rate and weekly hours.

What it requires. You, or an agent, use software that works with Making Tax Digital to:

• keep digital records of your self-employment income and expenses, each with the amount, the date and a category. This applies even if you claimed the trading allowance on your last return.
• send a quarterly update every 3 months: a summary of your income and expenses for the tax year so far, not a tax return. HMRC does not see individual invoices in it. For the standard update periods, the deadlines are 7 August, 7 November, 7 February and 7 May.
• submit your tax return by 31 January the following year.

HMRC will not give penalty points for late quarterly updates in 2026 to 2027. After that, 4 points mean a £200 penalty.

Choosing software. Some products create the records; others, called "bridging software", connect to records you keep in spreadsheets. HMRC's software guidance has a finder tool. Every product in it "has been through HMRC's recognition process", HMRC "does not recommend any product", and free products exist for simple tax affairs, with limits. Once a record has gone to HMRC, you must not move it by copying or "copy and paste"; a CSV import or export is one of the digital links GOV.UK accepts. GOV.UK says software that is not used to create your digital records, "for example, software that takes bookings", does not need to be digitally linked.

Teamlilit is not Making Tax Digital software. It keeps your lessons, attendance and invoices; you still need HMRC-recognised software (or an accountant) to send updates. It can export the invoices you issued, the payments you received and your credit notes for any period, such as a tax year, as CSV files for your accountant or a spreadsheet.

Keeping records a tutor can hand to an accountant

What to keep. GOV.UK says to keep records of all sales and income and all business expenses, with proof such as sales invoices, receipts and bank statements. Your records must be accurate, and you must be able to identify business transactions. If you claim mileage at the flat rate, keep a log of your business miles.

How long. At least 5 years after the 31 January deadline for the tax year. For 2026 to 2027, with the online return due by 31 January 2028, that means until at least the end of January 2033.

When income counts: cash basis. Since 6 April 2024, cash basis has been the default for sole traders: you record income when you receive it and expenses when you pay them. So "you'll not need to pay Income Tax on money you have not yet received". In GOV.UK's example, an invoice sent on 15 March and paid on 30 April is recorded as income on 30 April. Choose one way of dating payments, such as the day the money reaches your account, and use it on every return.

Free tools. The tutoring hours tracker records lessons, attendance and earnings and exports them as a CSV file. The UK self-employed invoice template makes an invoice for a UK sole trader. Our guide to weekly or monthly tutoring invoices helps you choose a billing routine.

If you use Teamlilit, it keeps the lesson and attendance record behind each invoice, drafts invoices from attendance for you to review and send, issues credit notes, and can put a family's children on one invoice. When a family pays, you record the payment with its amount, method and the date it was paid, which is the date cash basis goes by. Each invoice can be downloaded as a PDF. For any period, such as the 2026 to 2027 tax year, the export gives you a CSV of the invoices you issued, a CSV of the payments you received, by the date you recorded for each, and a CSV of your credit notes, with a README that explains each column. Teamlilit does not record expenses or connect to accounting software or HMRC, so the export covers your income records only.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to pay tax on private tutoring?

If you tutor for yourself, yes, on the profit. GOV.UK lists tutoring among the services whose income you may need to tell HMRC about. The first £1,000 of trading income in a tax year is covered by the trading allowance. Above that, you register for Self Assessment and pay Income Tax and National Insurance on your profit, depending on your total income.

How much can I earn from tutoring before paying tax?

There are two figures. Up to £1,000 of gross trading income a year is covered by the trading allowance, and you do not need to tell HMRC about it unless an exception applies. Above that, Income Tax is due on income above your Personal Allowance, £12,570 as standard in the 2026 to 2027 tax year, counting all your income, including any salary. Class 4 National Insurance is due on profits over £12,570.

Do I need to register as self-employed to tutor?

If your gross trading income is more than £1,000 in a tax year, yes: register for Self Assessment by 5 October after the tax year ends, which is 5 October 2027 for income in the 2026 to 2027 tax year. Below £1,000 you do not need to tell HMRC unless an exception applies, but you can register to claim a loss, pay voluntary Class 2 National Insurance or prove you are self-employed.

Does Making Tax Digital apply to tutors?

It applies to sole traders, tutors included, whose qualifying income is over the threshold: over £50,000 in the 2024 to 2025 tax year meant using it from 6 April 2026, over £30,000 in 2025 to 2026 means from 6 April 2027, and over £20,000 in 2026 to 2027 means from 6 April 2028. Qualifying income is self-employment and property income before expenses; a salary does not count. At £20,000 or less you are exempt.

Can I claim expenses as a private tutor?

Yes, if they are allowable expenses. GOV.UK's list includes business travel such as fuel, parking and fares (or a mileage rate instead of car costs), stationery and printing, the business share of your phone and internet, software you pay for regularly, training that improves skills you use in your business, professional membership and insurance. You cannot claim everyday clothing, travel between home and work, or the personal share of a cost. If you use the £1,000 trading allowance, you cannot claim expenses as well.

Do private tutors charge VAT?

Not on their own lessons in a school or university subject. HMRC's VAT Notice 701/30 treats private tuition as exempt when an individual teacher supplies it as a sole trader or partner, in a subject taught regularly in a number of schools or universities. Tuition delivered by tutors you take on is standard-rated. If you sell only exempt services, you do not have to register for VAT; the threshold is £90,000 of taxable turnover.

Do Superprof or Tutorful report my income to HMRC?

GOV.UK does not say which tutoring websites report. Its test is that a site is a digital platform if it connects sellers to customers and holds or can easily calculate what sellers are paid; a site that only lets you advertise, with families paying you directly, is not. A platform that reports must give you a copy of what it sent HMRC, so ask the platform. A report does not mean you owe tax, and it does not replace your own records.

Changelog

• 6 November 2026: first published, with GOV.UK's figures for the 2026 to 2027 tax year. Due to be checked again in April 2027 and after each Budget.
• 6 November 2026: the records and Making Tax Digital sections describe Teamlilit's new CSV export of invoices, payments and credit notes.

Corrections

If something here is out of date or wrong, write to support@teamlilit.com. We correct verified errors within 5 working days and note the change in the changelog above.