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A screenwriter is often self-employed. So, paying your taxes is your responsibility and isn’t done for you by an employer – in this case, the production you’re working on. In some cases, if a screenwriter is employed by a regular film/TV production (e.g. a soap), they may pay taxes via Pay As You Earn (PAYE). Where this is the case, it’s done by an employer.
For the most part, though, this isn’t the case.
As a self-employed screenwriter, there are a few things to consider when it comes to tax.
When you go self-employed, you have to declare your earnings to HMRC so that they can calculate how much tax you owe them each tax year. To declare this, you have to do what’s known as a self assessment.
It’s really important that you register and pay your taxes on time. Get these dates in your diary to make sure this happens!
Key dates in the current 2025/26 tax year 👇
| Deadline | Date | Year |
| Tax year starts | 6th April | 2025 |
| Tax year ends | 5th April | 2026 |
| Register for self assessment | 5th October | 2026 |
| Pay tax bill by PAYE salary | 30th December | 2026 |
| Self assessment deadline | 31st January | 2027 |
A self-employed screenwriter pays a tax bill made up of income tax and National Insurance.
As of April 2024, you only pay tax on profits that are higher than what’s known as the personal allowance. It’s the tax-free portion of your income that most adults are entitled to.
The rate of income tax that you pay is based on the following table:
The income tax rates in the 2025/26 tax year 👇
| Income | Tax rate | Tax band |
| 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 |
Like income tax, National Insurance is paid when you earn more than the personal allowance. What you pay depends on how much you earn. Take a look at the below table for details.
National Insurance rates in the 2025/26 tax year 👇
| NI class | Who pays? | How much? |
| Class 1 | Employees earning over £12,570 | 8% on earnings between £242 and £967 per week
2% if you earn £967+ per week |
| Class 1A/1B | Employers | 15% |
| Class 3 | Voluntary contributions | £17.75 per week |
| Class 4 | Self-employed earning over £12,570 | 6% on profits between £12,570-£50,270
2% on profits over £50,270 |
Self-employed individuals can deduct expenses from their earnings. This basically means that anything spent on your business can be deducted from your gross earnings to lower your tax bill. The practice of doing this is known as tax-efficiency.
Here are some examples of deductible expenses:
The best way to stay on top of this is to start a spreadsheet (or use accounting software like Quickbooks) with all of your income and business spending.
Manage your self-employed finances in one place with 10/10 bookkeeping tools. And all for free – forever and always.
Or see our Guides, Calculators or Taxopedia
