Are you in? It’s your takings, not your profit
Add up everything clients paid you in the 2025/26 tax year – treatments, deposits you kept, gift vouchers sold, aftercare products and tips – before taking off any costs. If that total (plus any rent from property you let) is over £30,000, MTD applies to you from 6 April 2027. Over £50,000 and you have been in since April 2026.
Over £50,000
Over £30,000
Over £20,000
planned
Your work in accountant language
What actually happens in your working life, what your accountant and HMRC call it, and what to do about it.
| What happens | Accountant calls it | What you do |
|---|---|---|
| A client pays for a full set of lashes | Sales / turnover | Record the full price, card or cash, on the day. |
| A client pays a booking deposit through Fresha or Booksy | Turnover when received (cash basis) | Record it when it lands. If you refund it later, record the refund. |
| You sell a gift voucher for Christmas | Turnover when sold | Record it when paid; when it is redeemed there is no new income. |
| The booking platform takes its commission | Allowable expense – fees | Record the fee separately so your turnover is the full price. |
| You order gel polish, lash trays and glue online | Allowable expense – consumables | Save the order email or invoice to your app. |
| You buy a new treatment couch or LED lamp | Equipment – deductible when paid for (cash basis) | Keep the receipt. |
| You pay yourself from the business account | Drawings – not an expense | It doesn’t reduce your tax. |
| Every three months | Quarterly update | Your software sends HMRC your income and expense totals. |
| After 5 April | Final declaration | Confirm the year’s figures; tax is worked out and due by 31 January. |
What can a beautician claim?
✓ Usually allowable
- Room, booth or salon rent; if you rent a separate studio, its rates and utilities
- Nail, lash, brow, wax and skincare products used on clients
- Disposables: gloves, wipes, files, cotton, couch roll, sanitiser
- Equipment: couch, lamps, drills, trolleys, steriliser
- Booking platform commission, subscriptions and card fees
- Treatment and public liability insurance
- Refresher training on treatments you already offer
- Tunic or salon uniform with your logo, and its cleaning
- Home studio: a reasonable business share of household costs, or the flat rate
- Mobile: business mileage at 45p a mile for the first 10,000 miles
✗ Not allowable
- Treatments or products you use on yourself
- Everyday clothes and shoes
- Travel from home to the salon where you rent your room
- Fines and penalties
- Money you take for yourself (drawings)
Rules that matter for beauticians
Deposits and no-shows
Under the cash basis a deposit is income when you receive it. If the client no-shows and you keep it, it stays income. If you refund it, the refund reduces your takings in the period you pay it back.
Gift vouchers
Money from a voucher is income when the voucher is sold, not when the treatment happens. Busy Christmas and Mother’s Day voucher sales can push up one quarter – that is normal.
Working from a home studio
If a room at home is used only for clients, you can claim a reasonable share of rent or mortgage interest, heating and electricity, based on space and time used. If it is mixed-use, the simplified flat rate (from £10 a month) may be easier. Using part of your home only for business may affect capital gains tax when you sell – worth checking.
New qualifications
Training that keeps an existing skill up to date is allowable. A course for a brand-new treatment you have never offered – say, moving from nails into aesthetics – is usually treated as a new skill and is not.
Worked example
Chloe runs a nail and lash studio from a converted garage in Northampton (illustrative example)
| Takings (turnover) | £34,200 |
| less Gels, lashes, glue and products | −£4,300 |
| less Disposables and hygiene supplies | −£1,150 |
| less Equipment (new lamp and couch) | −£780 |
| less Booking app and card fees | −£1,250 |
| less Business share of heating and electricity | −£620 |
| less Insurance, training and advertising | −£1,100 |
| Profit | £25,000 |
| Income tax (estimate) | £2,486 |
| Class 4 National Insurance (estimate) | £746 |
| Total tax for the year | £3,232 |
| Put aside each month | £269 |
Estimate for 2026/27 using England, Wales & NI rates, assuming no other income. Scotland has different income tax bands.
What a quarterly update looks like
A typical quarter for a beautician: export your booking app’s sales and payout reports, add any cash and bank transfers, check deposits, refunds and voucher sales are in the right place, and upload the supplier orders that came by email. Then your software sends the totals to HMRC. Doing it while you wait for a client to arrive keeps it painless.
| Quarter | Period | Submit by |
|---|---|---|
| Q1 | 6 Apr – 5 Jul | 7 Aug |
| Q2 | 6 Jul – 5 Oct | 7 Nov |
| Q3 | 6 Oct – 5 Jan | 7 Feb |
| Q4 | 6 Jan – 5 Apr | 7 May |
| Final declaration | The whole tax year | 31 Jan following |
Quarterly updates are summaries – they don’t change when you pay. Tax is still due by 31 January (plus payments on account on 31 January and 31 July if they apply to you).
What will an accountant cost?
Typical monthly fees under MTD for Income Tax for: Sole trader, one business.
| Option | What you get | Per month |
|---|---|---|
| You do it yourself | MTD-compatible software. You keep the records and send the updates. | £0–£15up to £180 a year |
| Accountant files for you | You keep records in an app; they check them, send the 4 quarterly updates and the final declaration. | £30–£60about £360–£720 a year |
| Full service | They do the bookkeeping too – you share receipts and bank feeds, they handle the rest. | £60–£120about £720–£1,440 a year |
What pushes the price up: lots of transactions every month, or more than one income stream; records kept on paper rather than in an app; being VAT-registered; catching up on missed updates or late returns.
What a fixed-fee quote should include
- All 4 quarterly updates and the final declaration (your tax return)
- The MTD software licence – or whether you pay for it separately
- Whether they do the bookkeeping or only check what you’ve recorded
- A reminder before each deadline and an estimate of the tax to put aside
- Whether VAT (20%) is added on top – not every practice charges it
Accountancy fees for your business are an allowable expense, so they reduce your tax bill.
Indicative ranges from published UK price lists, checked October 2026. Not a quote – your fee depends on how many transactions you have, how tidy your records are and where you live.
Questions beauticians ask
Do I have to declare deposits from clients who never turn up?
Yes. A deposit you keep is income. If you refund it, record the refund and it comes off your takings.
Can I claim my own nails or lashes as marketing?
Generally no. Treatments on yourself have a personal element, so they are not “wholly and exclusively” for the business.
My booking platform only shows the amount it pays out. What is my turnover?
Your turnover is the full price clients paid. Record the platform commission and card fees as expenses. Most platforms have a sales report showing the gross figures.
I only do beauty part-time alongside a job. Does MTD apply?
Your wages do not count. Your beauty takings do – over £1,000 a year means registering for Self Assessment, and over the MTD threshold (with any rental income) means MTD.
Sources
- Find out if and when you need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax – GOV.UK
- Work out your qualifying income for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax – GOV.UK
- Send quarterly updates using Making Tax Digital for Income Tax – GOV.UK
- Find software that works with Making Tax Digital for Income Tax – GOV.UK
- Penalties for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax – GOV.UK
This guide is general information about HMRC’s Making Tax Digital rules as of 26 October 2026, not tax advice. MTD Match is an independent introduction service and is not affiliated with HMRC. Check gov.uk or speak to an accountant about your own situation.