There is an online tool that allows taxpayers to check if they need to notify HMRC about additional income. The online tool can be found at www.gov.uk/check-additional-income-tax.
This could include earnings from:
- selling goods, for example at car boot sales or auctions, or online;
- Undertaking casual jobs such as gardening, food delivery or babysitting;
- charging other people for using your equipment or tools; and
- renting out property or part of your home, including for holidays (for example, through an agency or online).
In most cases, these types of income are taxable. However, there are two separate annual £1,000 tax allowances for property and trading income. If you have both types of income highlighted below, then you can claim a £1,000 allowance for each. The online tool will indicate if this is relevant.
The £1,000 exemptions from tax apply to:
- If you make up to £1,000 from self-employment, casual services (such as babysitting or gardening) or hiring personal equipment (such as power tools). This is known as the trading allowance.
- If your annual gross property income is £1,000 or less, from one or more property businesses you will not have to tell HMRC or declare this income on a tax return. For example, from renting a driveway. This is known as the property allowance.
Where each respective allowance covers all the individual’s relevant income (before expenses) the income is tax-free and does not have to be declared. Taxpayers with higher amounts of income will have the choice, when calculating their taxable profits, of deducting the allowance from their receipts, instead of deducting the actual allowable expenses.