How do I pay tax on freelance work?

lea2012

Hello all,

I currently work full time and have recently started to do a little bit of freelance work in my own time. At present this equates to about £250 a month but may rise to £350 a month in some months.

I know that I will need to declare this, but do I only need to do this at the end of the tax year or should I be doing it every month?The work I do is for a company so I send them an invoice each month. I have no business name so it is just my actual name on the invoice, but obviously it will help me keep a record of it.

Will I be expected to pay a higher rate of tax as this is a second income? and am I able to able to make any deductions from this income to cover extra electricity etc as I do the work from home?

It's all quite new to me so forgive me for seeming a little clueless! I was only offered the work for a couple of months so didn't think much of it but now it's a little more permanent so I know I will need to consider it all now.

PasturesNew

You register as self-employed.

At the end of the tax year you fill in a self-assessment form; for that level of income it'd be a simple 3 figure submission (money in, expenses, A-B).

You might be able to claim some electricity/similar, but it's probably not worth it as you're most likely talking pennies.

You don't pay higher rate tax on a "2nd income", you pay it when you've reached the threshold on your total income, so "total earnings from 1st job + 2nd job".

lea2012

That's great thank you. I thought that was the case but wasn't sure if it was as simple as that!
I already have the link saved for registering as self employed so that's fine.
My personal tax allowance is £11,000 I think, same as most people. As I already work full time I do pay tax already on my income over that, my total earnings from both incomes will still come in at less than £30k so am I right in thinking that if I save 20% of my freelance earnings to cover tax that will be enough?