Self Assessment and Making Tax Digital

When you have to register, the £1,000 trading allowance, and the change that is already live: if you turn over more than £50,000 you have had to keep digital records and file quarterly since April 2026.

Checked 12 August 2026 against the sources listed at the end.

Selling work is trading, whether or not it feels like a business yet. Two deadlines matter more than the rest: when you have to tell HMRC you exist, and — new, and already in force — when you have to start filing quarterly.

The £1,000 trading allowance

If your gross trading income for a tax year is £1,000 or less, you generally do not need to register or declare it. Gross means before expenses. Once you go over £1,000 you must register for Self Assessment, even if you made no profit.

Above that threshold you can either deduct the £1,000 allowance instead of your expenses, or claim actual expenses — whichever leaves you better off. For a maker buying materials, actual expenses is usually the answer.

Registering

The deadline is 5 October following the end of the tax year in which you started. Start trading in, say, November 2026 — that falls in the tax year ending 5 April 2027, so you must register by 5 October 2027. Late registration can bring a penalty.

Making Tax Digital — this one is live now

Making Tax Digital for Income Tax started on 6 April 2026. If your qualifying income is over £50,000 you are already in it: you must keep digital records in compatible software and send HMRC quarterly updates. The threshold drops each year:

• Qualifying income is gross, combining self-employment and property income, before expenses or allowances. A maker turning over £55,000 with £20,000 of materials costs is in scope on the £55,000, not the profit.
• Quarterly updates are not tax returns. They are summaries of income and expenses submitted from your software. A final declaration at the end of the year does the job the tax return used to.
• Spreadsheets alone are not enough — records have to be kept digitally in software that can talk to HMRC, though bridging software can connect a spreadsheet.
• HMRC is not issuing penalty points for late quarterly updates for the first 12 months for those joining in April 2026.

National Insurance and records

You pay Income Tax on profits plus self-employed National Insurance. The rates and thresholds change most years, so check the current figures on GOV.UK rather than trusting any guide, including this one.

Keep your records for at least five years after the 31 January filing deadline they relate to. Receipts, mileage, materials, studio costs, the lot.