We sort your Self Assessment for you. £149, all in.

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We sort your Self Assessment for you. £149, all in.
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UK Income tax calculator

Quickly calculate how much tax you need to pay on your income.

Your situation

Outlined number oneOutlined number one
I am
Annual self-employed income
Self-employed expenses
?

Tax and profit

Outlined number two
  • Total earnings
    £50,000
    £1,000 tax-free Trading Allowance
    ?
  • Tax to pay
    £10,994
    £7,286 income tax
    £159 class 2 National Insurance
    £3,549 class 4 National Insurance
  • What you’re left with
    £39,006

How your income tax is calculated

When you’re self-employed, you have to pay your income tax and national insurance contributions yourself in your annual Self Assessment. Our calculator helps you quickly assess how much you owe.

However you may be eligible for a tax refund when:

  1. You already made tax payments for the year but your annual income ended up less than planned
  2. You have done things that qualify for a tax relief (made private pension contributions, given to charity, etc.)

In your case when you earn £50,000:

Income tax breakdown

You pay no income tax on first £12,570 that you make

You pay £7,286 at basic income tax rate (20%) on the next £36,430

National insurance contributions breakdown

No contributions on the first £9,568 that you make

You pay £3,549 in contributions (at 9%) on the next £39,432 that you make

You pay £159 in NI Class 2 contributions

What is Income Tax?

Before using our UK Income Tax calculator, it would probably help to know what the heck Income Tax is. Income Tax is basically a charge that we all pay on our earnings in the UK. You have to pay it when you earn more than £12,570 in the 2023/24 tax year. This earnings threshold is known as the Personal Allowance. It’s a tax-free allowance that we’re all entitled to unless you earn more than £100,000. If you earn more than this, HMRC class you as a high earner and you lose your entitlement to the allowance for each £1 you earn over £100,000.

How is the tax calculated?

What you owe in Income Tax is calculated based on how much you earn. The Income Tax rates are set by the government. If they change, this usually happens in the Spring or Autumn Budget. In the current 2022/23 tax year, the rates are in the table below:

Income Tax rate
Up to £12,570 0% Personal allowance
£12,571 to £50,270 20% Basic rate
£50,271 to £125,140 40% Higher rate
over £125,141 45% Additional rate

The income thresholds were recently changed by the government, but the tax rates remain the same. It’s important to remember when calculating your taxes that the rates only apply to a portion of your income and not the whole amount. For example, if you earn £60,00 a year, you’re not taxed 40% of this full amount. It breaks down like this:

  • £12,570 = tax-free
  • £37,700 = 20%
  • £9,730 = 40%

You can see the exact breakdown above when you use the calculator.

What about expenses?

When you’re self-employed, you can deduct your business spending from your overall yearly earnings so that you’re only paying tax on your profits. This business spending is known as your expenses.

In order to deduct expenses, it’s important to keep a record of what you spend, on what, and when. Take a look at our guide on why it’s important to keep receipts below if you want to read more. To use the TaxScouts service, we don’t need to see your receipts but we will need to see your records (whether in a spreadsheet or downloaded from accounting software you use).

Can I use this as a Self Assessment tax calculator?

Yes!

If you’re calculating your Self Assessment tax bill, just switch to the self-employed button in the Your Situation section. Based on the amounts of income you’re earning, we’ll work out the Income Tax you and National Insurance (NI) contributions you owe on your self-employed profits. 

If you’re both employed and self-employed, or you’re employed with another side hustle – like investing, an Airbnb business etc. – and you want to work out what tax you owe based on your total income, check out our other tax calculators. 

Unlike employment income where your tax is deducted automatically, leaving you with your tax home pay as your salary, your Self Assessment tax bill has to be paid manually by you. You’ll pay National Insurance and Income Tax in a lump sum – and this needs to be done by 31st January following the tax year ending. 

Filing your Self Assessment tax return: TaxScouts vs HMRC

Filing with TaxScouts is just easier. Not only that, but we’re friendlier, jargon-free and have expert accountants on our side. 

  • An intuitive and well-loved platform
  • We can file your tax return quickly
  • Your accredited accountant does it all for you

Looking for tax help?

Or see our Guides, Calculators or Taxopedia