Tax for a tennis coach

You may not know but if you work as a tennis coach, you will most likely be self-employed. So not only is tax for a tennis coach a great piece of alliteration, it’s also very apt for our service at TaxScouts.

If you’re coaching tennis and thinking of going self-employed, take a look at our guide for our top tips on everything you need to know.

How is the self-employed lifestyle different? 

Self-employed tennis coaches can be more in control of their day-to-day working life. 

You decide what work you take, you set your rates of pay, and you’re not confined to an employer’s timetable. You are also in control of the clients that you work with, so you may find the lifestyle more empowering. 

But on the flip side of this, it’s also your responsibility to make sure that you have enough work to live on. You won’t have any benefits like holiday or sickness pay so the money management side of things will take rigid organisation.

What tax does a tennis coach pay?

As a self-employed worker, you owe two types of tax:

1. Income Tax

This is a tax that you pay on your income. You are liable to pay Income Tax whether you’re employed or self-employed. The rates of how much you pay depends on how much you earn each tax year. Take a look at the rates for the 2024/25 tax year. 

2. National Insurance

You pay National Insurance to be entitled to state-provided support such as:

• Job Seeker’s Allowance
• State Pension
• Disability Benefit
• Maternity Allowance
• Bereavement Support

But when you’re self-employed, you’re not entitled to every state-provided benefit. Read more about how you pay National Insurance if you’re self-employed.

What can a tennis coach expense?

As you may know, HMRC will allow you to remove your business expenses from your income when you work out what you owe in tax. Doing this reduces your tax bill. As long as your expenses are incurred purely for your business, HMRC will allow you to deduct them. 

Some examples of tennis coaching expenses are:

• Tennis rackets
• Mileage
• Equipment insurance
• Marketing materials
• Website costs
• Court fees
• Club memberships
• Refresher training

As long as you’ve got a record of your receipts for these things and evidence of them being business expenses, you will be able to deduct them from your taxable income.

Claiming mileage?

Check out our Mileage Allowance calculator. Tell us the vehicle you’re using for work and the miles you’ve travelled and we’ll tell you what you can deduct.