How do I pay tax as a self-employed carer?

1. 1Once you pass £1,000

   Register as self-employed with HMRC

   Do this as soon as caring privately looks likely to bring in more than £1000 in the tax year, and by 5 October the following year at the very latest.

2. 2About 15 days

   Your Unique Taxpayer Reference arrives

   HMRC posts your ten-digit UTR to your home address. You can often find it sooner in your personal tax account or the HMRC app.

3. 3Any time from 6 April

   Sign in and fill in the return

   First-time customers now set up a GOV.UK One Login. If you already have a Government Gateway account, keep using it until HMRC tells you to switch.

4. 4Before 31 January

   Submit the return

   Filing early does not move your payment date forward, it just gets the figure settled and out of the way.

5. 5By 31 January

   Pay what you owe

   Your balancing payment is due by 31 January, alongside a first payment on account if HMRC has asked for one. A second payment on account, where it applies, is due by 31 July.

Every stage below goes into the detail of one of these five. If you already know you're registered and just need to fill in the return, skip to filling in the return.

You register for Self Assessment on gov.uk once you know your self-employed income for the tax year, caring privately or otherwise, will be more than £1000. The deadline is 5 October following the end of that tax year, but there's no reason to leave it that long: registering as soon as you take your first paid booking means the paperwork is out of the way before you need it. If you also work for a care agency as an employee, that doesn't change anything here. You still register and file separately for your own self-employed earnings, and HMRC combines the two once your return is in.

Once you've registered, HMRC posts your Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR), a ten-digit number, to your home address. It usually takes about 15 days, though it can take longer at busy times of year, and longer still if you live overseas. You can often find your UTR sooner in your personal tax account or the HMRC app, so it's worth checking there before you assume the post has gone missing. Keep the number somewhere you'll find it again: you need it every time you file a return or ring HMRC about your tax.

Self-employed carer documents lists the paperwork worth having ready before you register, and do I need insurance as a self-employed carer? covers cover while you work, which is a separate question from tax.

If a client has ever asked you to manage their own money, for example paying bills or holding a shopping budget, that's a separate responsibility from your own tax and carries its own risks. Handling money for clients safely covers it on its own.

If you also had a PAYE job during the tax year, alongside your own private clients, there's a specific point in the return where you tell HMRC that. Watch for the employment section: it asks whether you had another job, and if you say yes, a new part of the form opens up for that employer's figures. HMRC usually pre-fills this from what your employer has already reported, so check the numbers are right rather than assuming they are, and correct them if anything looks off. Answer every question as accurately as you can from what you have in front of you.

If anything about your return doesn't fit a straightforward pattern, for example you have several income sources, significant expenses, or you're not sure whether something counts as self-employment at all, an accountant is worth paying for, particularly the first time you file. Tax and money as a self-employed carer sets out the Income Tax and National Insurance rates your return will apply, what you can claim, and the full 2026/27 calendar, so use it alongside the return if you want to check a figure HMRC has calculated for you.

Your balancing payment for the year is due by 31 January. If this is your first return and you owe more than £1,000, HMRC will usually also ask for a first payment on account towards next year's bill at the same time, so the amount due on 31 January can be one and a half times your actual tax bill for the year. A second payment on account, where it applies, follows on 31 July.