Tax for freelance makeup artists
Reviewed by Rob Webb, practising accountant since 2015 · Last reviewed September 2026 · Figures are for the 2026/27 tax yearReviewed by Rob Webb, practising accountant since 2015 · Last reviewed September 2026 · Figures are for the 2026/27 tax yearDo you take your own bookings? Then you're usually self-employed, and once your fees pass £1,000 in a tax year you must register with HMRC.
What can you claim? Products you use on paying clients, but not the same products on your own face. On £31,600 of fees with £8,807 of costs, about £2,658 in tax and National Insurance for 2026/27.
Want to check your own costs? See what you can claim as a makeup artist →
If you find your own clients, quote your own prices, supply your own kit and can turn a job down, you are self-employed. Most bridal, editorial, event and film freelancers are.
Some of your work may still be employed. Counter work for a cosmetics brand, a salaried role at a studio or a fixed contract on a production may run through PAYE. If tax is deducted before you are paid, that part is employment income and goes on the employment pages of your return.
You must tell HMRC once your self-employed fees for a tax year exceed £1,000 before expenses. Register by 5 October after the end of that tax year. The threshold looks at gross fees, so £1,900 of bookings with £1,300 of kit spend still counts as being over.
The announced rise of that threshold to £3,000 has no confirmed start date on gov.uk, so £1,000 is still the figure for 2026/27.
Agency work needs a second look. If a production agency books you, pays you gross and does not deduct tax, you are self-employed as far as that job goes and the fee is your turnover. Check every payslip or remittance for whether tax was taken off before you file.
A freelance artist with a mix of bridal mornings, events and editorial days in 2026/27.
| Fees for the year | £31,600 |
| Kit — products used on clients | £5,200 |
| Brushes, palettes, kit bag, chair, ring light | £740 |
| Mileage — 3,100 business miles at 55p | £1,705 |
| Train fares, parking and congestion charge | £290 |
| Public liability and kit insurance | £180 |
| Website, portfolio hosting, booking system | £260 |
| Working from home flat rate, £18 a month | £216 |
| Mobile phone, business share | £216 |
| Total expenses | £8,807 |
| Profit | £22,793 |
| Less personal allowance | £12,570 |
| Taxable profit | £10,223 |
| Income tax at 20% | £2,044.60 |
| Class 4 National Insurance at 6% | £613.38 |
| Total due | £2,657.98 |
The home-working flat rate of £18 a month applies where you work 25 to 100 hours a month at home. Sanitising brushes, restocking the kit, editing images and answering enquiries all count. There is no flat rate below 25 hours a month, and it does not cover phone or internet — those are claimed separately as a business share.
| What you can claim | What to watch |
|---|---|
| Foundations, palettes, lashes, primers and setting sprays used on clients | This is the biggest deduction you have, and the one most often under-claimed because receipts are small and frequent |
| Brushes, sponges, palettes, brush cleaner, sanitiser, disposables | Disposables are pure business — keep the Boots and wholesaler receipts |
| Kit bag, trolley, makeup chair, ring light, mirror, backdrop | Larger items may be capital allowances rather than everyday expenses |
| Mileage to shoots, weddings and venues at 55p a mile for the first 10,000 miles, 25p after | Keep a log of date, job and journey. Travel to a venue is business travel; a personal detour on the way home is not |
| Train fares, parking, congestion and clean-air charges, overnight stays for distant jobs | A hotel the night before an early bridal call is allowable. Extending the stay for a weekend away is not |
| Public liability insurance and separate cover for the kit itself | Cover for personal belongings is not a business cost |
| Portfolio shoots, test days, model fees, retoucher and photographer fees | — |
| Website, domain, Squarespace or similar, booking system, Instagram advertising | — |
| Assisting fees you pay to a second artist on a large wedding party | If you pay an assistant regularly you may have payroll duties — worth checking before it becomes a habit |
| Hygiene training, barrier cream, PPE, first aid certificate where required | — |
The line between kit and your own cosmetics.
A foundation you use on twelve brides is a business cost. The identical foundation you wear yourself is not — HMRC treats personal grooming as a private expense, regardless of how much your appearance affects your bookings. Products you dip into for both purposes are dual purpose, and you can only claim the business share.
In practice the way to survive a question about this is separation, not argument. Keep a kit that lives in the kit bag and is only ever used on clients. Buy it on a separate transaction or a separate card. Professional and pro-artist sizes help, because nobody wears a 1kg tub of setting powder to the shops. Then your claim is a clean total of kit purchases rather than a proportion you had to estimate.
The same logic applies to hair, nails and clothing. A haircut before a shoot, a manicure so your hands look right on camera, and a nice outfit for a wedding are all private expenses, even when the job prompted them. Branded workwear and protective items are different and are allowable.
Making Tax Digital for Income Tax replaces the annual return with four quarterly updates in compatible software, plus a final declaration. Entry is based on your qualifying income — gross self-employment turnover plus gross property income, added together before expenses, as shown on your previous year's return.
The artist above, on £31,600 of fees, comes in from 6 April 2027. Note the test is on gross fees, not the £22,793 of profit. PAYE counter or studio income is excluded from the calculation.
Quarterly updates are due 7 August, 7 November, 7 February and 7 May, and each one is cumulative — it reports the tax year to date rather than a standalone three months. The final declaration is still due 31 January. Missed deadlines carry one point each, with a £200 penalty at four points and £200 for each miss after that.
If your fees are under £1,000 for the year, the trading allowance covers them and you generally have nothing to file.
If your fees are modest and your costs are simply kit, mileage and insurance, the HMRC online return is free and will take you an evening. A single trade, one bank account and a shoebox of receipts is not complicated, and paying a monthly fee for it is a choice rather than a necessity.
If you are employed at a counter or in a studio on PAYE and do no freelance work at all, you probably have no return to file.
If you are an artist with a company, overseas production income, or a mixture of employment, freelance and royalties from tutorials, the work is genuinely more involved than a guide like this can cover, and you should speak to someone who can look at all of it together — us or anyone else.
No. Personal grooming and everyday cosmetics are private expenses even when you are the shop window for your own business. Only products used on paying clients are deductible.
Then it is a dual-purpose item and you can only claim the business proportion. The cleaner approach is to keep a separate client kit so that the whole cost is plainly a business cost.
Yes. Travel to a client's venue is business travel, at 55p a mile for the first 10,000 business miles in 2026/27 and 25p after that, or the actual cost of train fares and parking. A hotel the night before a very early call is also allowable.
Yes. Cash fees are taxable income exactly like a bank transfer. Record the date, the client and the amount when you are paid, whether or not you bank it.
Insurance is not a tax requirement, but public liability cover is a normal business expense and is deductible when you have it. Many venues and agencies will not book you without it.
Larger equipment is usually dealt with through capital allowances rather than as an ordinary expense. In many cases the full cost can still be relieved in the year you buy it, but the treatment differs from a tube of foundation, so flag big purchases separately rather than burying them in kit.
Filed Tax files Self Assessment and Making Tax Digital returns for freelance makeup artists. £25 a month covers all four quarterly updates, the year-end final declaration, unlimited questions and deadline reminders, and the first month is free. Send your figures and receipts, Rob Webb reviews the return, and it is filed. Call 020 3637 6060.
Rob is a Certified Xero Advisor with a BSc from the University of Salford. Last reviewed September 2026 against GOV.UK guidance current at that date. This guide is general information, not personal tax advice. Figures are for the 2026/27 tax year and can change at each Budget — always confirm the current numbers on GOV.UK or ask us to check your situation.