I put together this tax advice for self-employed dog walkers and sitters because as a Chartered Accountant in my previous life, I know how confusing business registration and taxes can be when you work for yourself.
In this guide, I’ll share some of my knowledge not just about business registration but also VAT, tax deductions and returns, as well as where you can find additional information to read to help build your knowledge and register as a self-employed dog walker.
I only cover self-employment taxes in this guide. If you have a Limited Company you’ll be affected by different taxes such ascorporation taxanddividend tax.
How to Register as a Self-Employed Dog Walker
The quickest and easiest way to register to work for yourself with HMRC is toapply to be self-employed and get a UTR number. You’ll need to do this once your income (not profit) goes over £1,000 during atax year(6th April to 5th April). You’ll need to make sure you’ve registered by the 5th October following the end of the tax year you went over the £1,000 threshold.
Even if you are currently not making much profit from your dog walking business or just crossed the £1,000 threshold, you must still register with HMRC and fill in a tax return. Although this may feel onerous, completing a tax return means you can record all your expenses to create a tax loss. You can then use this against any money you make in the future and save you tax at this point.
How to Register as Self-Employed
There are other business structures out there including:
- Limited Company
- Partnerships
These may offer you better tax-savings depending on your earnings and protection from creditors. However, they often carry more reporting responsibilities meaning you need to engage an accountant.
How to Choose the Right Legal Structure for Your New Business
For the rest of this guide I’ll assume that you are registered as self-employed.
How to Calculate Your Tax
The amount of tax and National Insurance you’ll pay will depend on how much money is left over after deducting expenses, tax allowances and reliefs.
Income tax starts at 20% on all your income (not just from your dog walking business) over £12,500 and 40% over £50,000. Class 2 National Insurance is paid as a set weekly amount when your earnings go over £6,475 and Class 4 is worked out as 9% on your earnings over £9,501.
When you fill in your tax return online, HMRC will automaticallycalculatehow much tax you owe for you based on the information you enter.
Self-Employment Taxes Explained
Tax Deductions for Self-Employed Dog Walkers
Claiming for allowable business expenses is the easiest way to reduce your tax bill when you’re self-employed. Typically, most of the things that you pay for in your business will be tax-deductible. For example:
- Dog treats
- Dog food & bowls
- Leads and toys
- Commercial vehicle
- Laptop
- Licences, software and subscriptions
- Products you sell to your clients
- Branded clothing, uniforms or safety
- Training and courses
- Use of home as an office
- Insurance
- Travel and mileage if you are a mobile therapist
- Payment processing fees
- Legal fees
- Accountants fees
- Bank charges for abusiness bank account
There may some expenses you pay for that you use personally and for business, like your mobile phone. In these cases, you can only claim a portion as a business expense. So, say you use your mobile phone for 60% work and 40% personal, then can claim 60% of the total bills to put against your taxes.
Whilst most things you pay for as part of being a dog walker are tax write-offs, there are some things you may pay for that you cannot deduct against your taxes. This includes things like:
- Fines and penalties eg: parking fines
- HMRC interest and penalties
- Training and coursesfor new skills
- Food, except incertain circ*mstances
- Personal expenses
A Guide to Claiming Self Employed Expenses
Tax Returns for Self Employed Dog Walkers
When you become self-employed, you’ll need to follow the rules of HMRC self-assessment. You’ll need to submit atax return onlinedeclaring your income and expenses once a year by 31 January, as well as paying tax twice a year by 31 January and 31 July.
Self-Assessment Guides
Keeping Tax Records
When you register as a self-employed dog walker, you’re legally required to keep records and paperwork that support all your income and expenses and hold onto them for6 years. That way if HMRC ever asks how you arrived at the figures on your tax return, you’ll be able to show them evidence.
Your records include things like bank transfers, cash you get paid as well as receipts for any expenses you may wish to claim, along with bank statements.
The simplest ways to keep your records in order and speed upfilling in your tax returnis to:
- Open aseparate bank accountso all your payments are in one place and help you budget for your tax bill (take a look atStarling);
- Store your records and paperwork using a secure cloud-based storage system like google drive or Dropbox;
- Set aside time on a regular basis to check all your finances are in order and do your bookkeeping.
Bookkeeping Spreadsheet
VAT
Value Added Tax (known as ‘VAT’) is a tax added to the price most goods and services consumers buy. Only businesses with a turnover of £85,000 or more are required to register for VAT. Once VAT registered, a business must charge VAT to its customers and pay this over to HMRC after claiming back VAT they have paid to their suppliers as well as submitting VAT returns, usually quarterly.
An Overview of UK VAT
