One of my oldest friends, Emma, teaches English as a second language to online students. She mentioned recently that questions around tax and accounting often come up on her teaching groups, and so I’ve written this article to help those offering this service.
Please note these are principles for teachers based in the UK. If you're located overseas things might be slightly different.
Who Needs to Complete a Tax Return?
In the UK it's necessary to complete a tax return to declare any income that isn’t taxed at source. If you work for a company, you probably receive income through the pay as you earn (PAYE) scheme. If this is the case, your taxes will be handled by your employer.
If you are self-employed in any way - if you are teaching and receiving income directly from students, or from a company who doesn’t tax your income first - then you will need to complete a self-assessment tax return.
Registration
The first step is to register with HMRC as self-employed. The UK tax year runs from 6 April to 5 April the following year.
HMRC will want you to register the October after your first self-employed tax year ended. So if you started teaching after April 2024, you should register by October 2025. From there, you will need to submit your tax return by the following January.
To clarify, if you started teaching between 6 April 2024 and 5 April 2025, you have until January 2026 to complete your return.
Once you are registered as self-employed, HMRC will send you codes and login information. This will include a Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR) and information on how to access your account.
From there, you will be able to complete your self-assessment tax return. Alternatively, you could authorise an HMRC registered accountant to complete the return on your behalf.
Record Keeping
The most important thing is to keep a good record of everything. Log any income you receive (I often provide my clients with a Google spreadsheet) and do the same for any costs.
Your students may pay you in their home currency, but you only need to record income received in pounds. However, it's good practice to keep a log of the amount in the original currency too.
Most costs related to your work can be claimed as a tax-deductible expense in some way. Any costs that are 100% related to your teaching – e.g. textbooks – can be fully charged against your income.
A realistic portion of costs incurred - internet, mobile phone - that likely include personal use can also be claimed. I advise my clients to log everything they may be able to claim and allow me to review it with them.
Tax Due
To work out your tax due: Take your total income, deduct your total allowable costs, which allows you to work out your profit.
If the profit is under the personal allowance (currently £12,570) then you will pay no tax. You will pay tax at the basic rate of 20% on anything earned over that threshold, until you get to the higher rate bracket (currently £50,270).
So that means if you earn £12,571, you will pay tax on the £1 over the limit at 20% – so you would pay 20p in tax.
The other thing to be aware of is National Insurance contributions. These are due when your income is over £12,570 for the year. You can also choose to pay them voluntarily, to ensure you contribute enough to receive your state pension.
Depending on your income, HMRC may ask you to make payments on account. These are payments made throughout the year towards your next tax bill. Payments on account are based on your current earnings, and anything you pay is deducted from the following year’s tax bill.
Get in Touch
I hope that helps, but please let me know if you have any further questions or if you want me to give you a quote for my services. Feel free to email me directly.
Also, my friend Emma has a Facebook page that you can check out if you, or anyone you know, might be interested in her services.
All figures correct as of 8 October 2025.
