Self-Employed Tax in 2026/27: What You Actually Keep at 12 Income Levels

You invoiced £3,400 last month and it felt like a good month. How much of it is yours? If you cannot answer within a few hundred pounds, you are not alone, and January is when most people find out the hard way.

This guide does the sums for you. It shows self-employed tax at 12 profit levels for the 2026/27 tax year, what is left each month, what to put aside, and the points where the rate jumps. The rates are the ones GOV.UK publishes for 6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027, read on 4 October 2026, and the working is shown so you can check it.

How we worked it out

1. Rates from GOV.UK. Income Tax bands and self-employed National Insurance rates for 2026/27 are taken from GOV.UK.

2. Profit, not turnover. Every figure starts from profit, which is what you invoiced minus your allowable expenses.

3. England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Scotland sets its own Income Tax bands, so Scottish taxpayers will see different figures.

4. One job, no extras. The table assumes no other income, no student loan and no pension contributions.

5. Shown to the penny. So you can repeat the sums.

The rules in four lines

• Personal allowance: the first £12,570 of profit is free of Income Tax.

• Basic rate: 20% on profit from £12,571 to £50,270.

• Higher rate: 40% from £50,271 to £125,140, then 45% above that.

• Class 4 National Insurance: 6% on profit between £12,570 and £50,270, and 2% above it.

Class 2 National Insurance no longer adds to the bill for most people. GOV.UK says that if your profits are £7,105 or more a year it is treated as having been paid, which protects your State Pension record. Below that you can pay it voluntarily at £3.65 a week.

Self-employed tax at 12 income levels

Here is the £30,000 row in full. Profit above the allowance is £17,430. Income Tax at 20% is £3,486. Class 4 at 6% is £1,045.80. Together that is £4,531.80, which leaves £25,468.20, or about £2,122 a month.

How much to set aside

Divide the total tax by the profit and you get the share to save from every payment.

• £20,000 profit: about 10%.

• £30,000: about 15%.

• £40,000: about 18%.

• £50,000: about 20%.

• £60,000: about 23%.

• £80,000: about 28%.

• £100,000: about 31%.

A flat 25% of everything you are paid covers the bill up to roughly £65,000 of profit and leaves a cushion below that. Move it into a separate savings account the day each invoice is paid. Money you cannot see is money you do not spend.

The two bands that catch people out

£50,270: every extra pound loses 42p

Up to £50,270 an extra pound of profit costs 26p in tax: 20p Income Tax and 6p National Insurance. Above it the same pound costs 42p: 40p and 2p. That is why the table moves from £9,731.80 at £50,000 to £13,888.60 at £60,000. Ten thousand pounds more profit, £4,156.80 more tax.

£100,000 to £125,140: the 62% zone

GOV.UK says your personal allowance goes down by £1 for every £2 of income above £100,000, and is gone at £125,140. In that stretch each extra pound is taxed at 40%, takes 50p of allowance away that is then taxed at 40% too, and carries 2% National Insurance. The combined rate is 62p in the pound. Pension contributions are the usual way people in this zone bring their taxable income back down.

The first-year bill nobody warns you about

HMRC does not only ask for last year's tax. If your bill is over £1,000, it also asks for payments on account towards the current year. GOV.UK says each payment is usually half of the previous year's bill, due by midnight on 31 January and 31 July.

Take a first year with £30,000 of profit:

• Tax for the year: £4,531.80.

• First payment on account for the next year: £2,265.90.

• Due on 31 January: £6,797.70.

• Second payment on account, due 31 July: £2,265.90.

That January payment is half as big again as the figure in the table. After the first year it evens out, because the payments on account you have made come off the next bill. In year one, save closer to 23% of a £30,000 profit than 15%.

You do not make payments on account if your last bill was under £1,000, or if more than 80% of your tax was already collected at source, which is common for subcontractors paid under the Construction Industry Scheme.

What the table leaves out

• Scotland. Scottish Income Tax has different bands and rates. National Insurance is the same.

• Student loans. Repayments are collected through the same return and come on top.

• Child Benefit. If you or your partner receive it and one of you has income over £60,000, the High Income Child Benefit Charge claws some back, and all of it by £80,000.

• VAT. Once turnover passes £90,000 in a rolling 12 months you must register. VAT is separate from the tax in the table.

• Other income. A part-time job, rent or savings interest uses up allowance and bands.

Five legal ways to keep more

1. Claim every allowable expense. Each £100 saves £26 at the basic rate and £42 at the higher rate. For the 2026/27 tax year the flat mileage rate is 55p a mile for the first 10,000 business miles.

2. Use the working-from-home flat rate if you do 25 hours a month or more at home: £10, £18 or £26 a month depending on the hours.

3. Pay into a pension. Contributions attract tax relief, and they can bring your taxable income back below the £50,270 and £100,000 thresholds.

4. Time large purchases. Tools or equipment bought before 5 April count in this tax year, not the next.

5. Raise your prices. Tax takes a share of profit. The only way to keep more of a small number is to make it a bigger one. Our guide to freelance day rates in the UK and the table of trade rates by UK city show what others charge.

The dates that matter

• 5 October: register for Self Assessment by this date after the end of the tax year in which you started.

• 31 January: file online and pay the balance, plus the first payment on account.

• 31 July: second payment on account.

• From April 2026: if your income from self-employment and property is over £50,000, Making Tax Digital applies, with quarterly updates. Our guide to Making Tax Digital for sole traders has the detail.

How an AI agent helps with self-employed tax

ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, Manus and Meta's Muse can all explain a tax band. An agent can run your own numbers.

• Estimates your bill each month. From your invoices and expenses so far, with the amount to move to savings.

• Sorts your expenses. Under the headings HMRC uses, with a list of anything it is unsure about.

• Warns you before a band. It tells you when this year's profit is heading past £50,270 or £100,000.

• Prepares the figures for your return. One summary for you or your accountant to check.

• Brings in better-paid work. On Jobbit Pro customers and Jobbit's agent send briefed, scoped jobs to professionals, and the customer's payment is held in escrow before you start.

• Free agent credits from the first day. A new account gets a 300-credit sign-up bonus on top of 100 free credits every day, with no card.

• A website when your profile is complete. Finish your Jobbit Pro profile and you get a website for your services with an enquiry form.

An agent is not a tax adviser. Use it to prepare and to check, and ask an accountant about anything unusual.

Your plan for this week

• Day 1: add up this tax year's profit so far and find your row in the table.

• Day 2: open a savings account for tax and move in the right share of what you have earned.

• Day 3: set a standing rule: the same share of every payment, the day it arrives.

• Day 4: list the expenses you have not been claiming.

• Day 5: put 31 January and 31 July in your diary with the amounts. Then create your Jobbit Pro profile and complete it to unlock your website.

If you are still deciding how to trade, our guide to sole trader versus self-employed explains when a limited company makes sense.

Frequently asked questions

How much tax do I pay if I am self-employed on £30,000?

On £30,000 of profit in 2026/27 you pay £3,486 Income Tax and £1,045.80 Class 4 National Insurance, a total of £4,531.80. You keep £25,468.20, about £2,122 a month.

How much should I set aside for self-employed tax?

About 15% of profit at £30,000, 20% at £50,000 and 28% at £80,000. A flat 25% of everything you are paid is a safe habit up to about £65,000, and you need more in your first year because of payments on account.

Do I pay tax on the first £12,570?

No Income Tax and no Class 4 National Insurance. The personal allowance is £12,570 for 2026/27, unless your income is over £100,000.

Do the self-employed still pay Class 2 National Insurance?

Not as a separate charge if profits are £7,105 or more: it is treated as paid. Below that you can pay £3.65 a week voluntarily to protect your State Pension record.

When do I pay self-employed tax?

By 31 January after the tax year ends, with a second payment on account by 31 July if your bill is over £1,000.

Is self-employed tax higher than an employee's tax?

Income Tax is the same. Employees pay a higher rate of National Insurance on their wages than the 6% Class 4 rate, but they also get holiday pay, sick pay and an employer's pension contribution, which the self-employed fund themselves.

How can I earn more as a self-employed person?

Charge properly and fill the diary with work that pays your rate. Create a free Jobbit Pro profile: 300 free agent credits on sign-up plus 100 a day, a website when your profile is complete, payment held in escrow before work starts and no fee until a paid job completes.