{"id":781,"date":"2022-07-05T08:04:27","date_gmt":"2022-07-05T08:04:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/taxtribe.co.uk\/?p=781"},"modified":"2022-07-05T08:04:27","modified_gmt":"2022-07-05T08:04:27","slug":"tax-guide-for-self-employed-barbers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/taxtribe.co.uk\/tax-guide-for-self-employed-barbers\/","title":{"rendered":"Tax Guide for Self-Employed Barbers"},"content":{"rendered":"

The COVID-19 pandemic was a challenging time for traditional barber shops. Periodic lockdowns and tough restrictions led to long periods with sporadic or no income. Many clients also discovered that they preferred to have their hair or beard trimmed at home, rather than going to a salon. It\u2019s no wonder that so many skilled barbers are now choosing to work flexibly on a freelance basis.<\/span><\/p>\n

And freelance life can be great. You can set your own hours, develop your own signature brand, and cultivate your own loyal base of customers. But being your own boss also means taking on extra responsibilities. We\u2019ll take a look at some of the key concerns for self-employed barbers in this post.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tax and National Insurance<\/b><\/p>\n

If you\u2019re an employee, you rarely have to deal with HMRC. Your employer is responsible for paying tax and National Insurance from your wages before the rest is paid to you. As a freelancer, however, it\u2019s your job to declare your income and pay any tax & NI that is due. If you overrun a deadline or fail to declare any earnings, then you will bear the brunt of the resulting (and potentially heavy) fines and penalties. You\u2019ll also need to keep your invoices and any receipts for <\/span>22 months<\/span><\/a> after submitting your tax return.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you decide to go self-employed, the good news is that you won\u2019t need to submit a tax return in your first year of business. But you will have to pay that tax eventually, so make sure to put money aside as you go. By <\/span>5 October<\/b><\/a> of the second year, you must register for self-assessment and Class 2 National Insurance.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

You\u2019ll submit your first tax return by the following <\/span>31 January<\/b>. This is when you will pay the tax due for the previous year. You will then make a second payment on account for the current tax year, calculated on the basis of your first year\u2019s earnings. The deadline for this is <\/span>31 July<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Over and underpayment<\/b><\/p>\n

After your first tax return, you\u2019ll continue to pay tax twice a year. The amount due will be adjusted depending on your last tax return, so you may find that you overpay or underpay as your income fluctuates. You\u2019ll either have to pay extra to make up the shortfall, or, if you\u2019ve paid too much, you\u2019ll be due a refund from HMRC. You\u2019ll often need to apply for this yourself, so you should be proactive about monitoring your income and taxes or have someone do this for you. This is just one way a good accountant can save you time, effort and money.<\/span><\/p>\n

Expenses are another area where expert advice can pay off. The tools of your trade, such as razors and clippers, shampoos and treatments, training, specialist clothing, and the cost of running your premises or mobile business can all be claimed against tax. But there are other, less obvious outgoings that also count, such as marketing costs, subscriptions to trade publications, and hiring an accountant.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you\u2019re a barber who is thinking about self-employment, our friendly online accountants are here for you! Just <\/span>get in touch<\/span><\/a> for a free, personalised, no-obligation quote.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The COVID-19 pandemic was a challenging time for traditional barber shops. Periodic lockdowns and tough restrictions led to long periods with sporadic or no income. Many clients also discovered that they preferred to have their hair or beard trimmed at home, rather than going to a salon. It\u2019s no wonder that so many skilled barbers…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-781","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/taxtribe.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/781"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/taxtribe.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/taxtribe.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taxtribe.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taxtribe.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=781"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/taxtribe.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/781\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":782,"href":"https:\/\/taxtribe.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/781\/revisions\/782"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/taxtribe.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taxtribe.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taxtribe.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}