Are you in? It’s your takings, not your profit
Add up everything you earned from your self-employed music work in the 2025/26 tax year – gig and session fees (including cash), DJ bookings, private lessons, merch and CD sales, streaming and PRS or PPL royalties from music you make as part of your work – before taking off instruments, travel or anything else. Wages from an employed teaching job do not count. If the total (plus any rent from property you let) is over £30,000, MTD applies 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 |
|---|---|---|
| The pub landlord hands you £250 cash after your set | Turnover (cash takings) | Note it the same night in your app or a notebook. |
| A wedding couple pays your band’s fee and you split it with the other players | Turnover + an expense (fees to other musicians) | If the full fee comes to you, record it all as income and what you pay the others as an expense. |
| PRS for Music pays your quarterly royalty statement | Turnover (royalties from your trade) | Record the gross royalty shown on the statement. |
| A private pupil pays for a block of lessons | Turnover | Record it when paid. |
| You buy a new amp or guitar | Equipment – deductible in the year you buy it (cash basis) | Keep the receipt. |
| You drive to a gig 60 miles away with your kit | Travel – business mileage | Log the miles (45p a mile for the first 10,000) and keep parking receipts. |
| You take money out to pay your rent | Drawings – not an expense | Fine to do, but it does not 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, including any employed wages; tax is due by 31 January. |
What can a musician claim?
✓ Usually allowable
- Instruments, amps, PA, decks, controllers and stands
- Strings, reeds, sticks, cables, repairs and servicing
- Fees you pay to dep players, sound engineers and other band members
- Recording, mixing, mastering and rehearsal room hire
- Sheet music, sample packs and music software
- Musicians’ Union subscription and instrument insurance
- Mileage, van hire, train fares and parking for gigs
- Agent and booking platform commission
- Stage clothes that are costume-like rather than everyday wear
- Website, recording distribution and promotion costs
✗ Not allowable
- Everyday clothes you also wear off stage
- Drinks at the bar after the gig
- Lessons for yourself on a new instrument purely as a hobby
- Parking fines and penalties
- Money you take out for yourself (drawings)
Rules that matter for musicians
Cash gig fees
Cash from pubs, clubs and private events is fully taxable and counts towards MTD. The simplest habit: note each cash payment on the night, with the venue name, and transfer the notes into your software weekly.
Royalties
If writing or performing music is your work, PRS, PPL and streaming royalties are usually part of your self-employed income and count towards the MTD threshold. Keep every statement, because they are your record of the gross amount.
Employed teaching alongside
Wages from a school or music service, where tax comes off through PAYE, do not count towards MTD. Private pupils you teach on your own account do. Both still go on your final declaration.
Bands as partnerships
If your band is set up as a formal partnership, partnership income is not in MTD for Income Tax yet. If you simply take the fee and pay the others, it is your self-employed income. Check how your band is actually set up.
Worked example
Dan, a function band guitarist and DJ in Brighton (illustrative example)
| Takings (turnover) | £33,600 |
| less Instruments, PA and DJ kit | −£2,600 |
| less Fees to dep players and sound engineers | −£4,800 |
| less Mileage and van hire | −£3,100 |
| less Rehearsal rooms and recording | −£1,200 |
| less Agent commission | −£2,900 |
| less Insurance, Musicians’ Union and software | −£680 |
| Profit | £18,320 |
| Income tax (estimate) | £1,150 |
| Class 4 National Insurance (estimate) | £345 |
| Total tax for the year | £1,495 |
| Put aside each month | £125 |
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 gigging musician: copy your cash notes into your software, match agency and wedding payments in your bank, add any royalty statements and private lesson fees, then log your gig mileage and kit receipts. Leave out your employed teaching wages – those are dealt with at year end. Then submit, or let your accountant do it. Done weekly, it takes about 15 minutes.
| 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 musicians ask
I get paid cash at most gigs. Does HMRC really need to know?
Yes. Cash gig fees are taxable income and count towards your MTD threshold, just like bank payments.
I teach in a school on PAYE and gig at weekends. Does my salary count?
No. Employed wages are not counted for MTD. Only your self-employed gigging, lessons and royalties count towards the threshold.
Can I claim my guitar?
Yes, if you use it for paid work. Under the cash basis, instruments are deducted in the year you buy them.
The bandleader gets the full fee and pays me my share. What do I record?
You record the share you are paid as your income. The bandleader records the full fee and the payments to you as an expense.
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.