By profit
Self-employed tax on £15,000 of profit
A first-rung profit: most of it is tax-free, the National Insurance year is protected and January stays light.
A sole trader in England, Wales or Northern Ireland with £15,000 of profit in 2026/27 owes £486 of Income Tax and £146 of Class 4 National Insurance, a Self Assessment bill of £632 that leaves £14,368 to live on. Only £2,430 of the year is taxed at all, because the first £12,570 is covered both by the Personal Allowance and by the Class 4 lower profits limit, so the bill works out at 4.2 % of the profit. In Scotland it falls slightly, to £608, since the taxed slice sits in the 19 % starter band. Two quieter things happen at this level. Profit is above the small profits threshold of £7,105, so Class 2 contributions are treated as paid and the National Insurance record is protected without any voluntary payment. And because the bill stays below £1,000, HMRC does not ask for payments on account towards the following year.
Self Assessment bill 2026/27
£632
Put aside 4.2 % of your profit · next £100 of profit costs 26.0 %
| Profit | £15,000 |
| Income Tax | £486 |
| Class 4 National Insurance | £146 |
| Class 2 | treated as paid |
| Kept from your profit | £14,368 |
When you pay, if 2026/27 is your first year
| 31 January 2028: bill | £632 |
| 31 July 2028: second payment on account | £0 |
No payments on account: the bill is under £1,000 or mostly paid at source. How payments on account work
Making Tax Digital at this turnover
Turnover of £15,000 is under every threshold announced so far (the lowest is £20,000). Check your start date
Figures checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How we calculate
Class 2 credited, Class 4 barely started
Two National Insurance thresholds sit below this profit, and they do different jobs. Above £7,105, Class 2 contributions count as paid even though nobody pays them. Above £12,570, Class 4 starts at 6 %. A self-employed gardener on £15,000 is past both, but only just past the second: Class 4 bites on £2,430 and comes to £146. Compare a first-year trader who finishes on £6,000. That person pays no Class 4 and gets no automatic Class 2 credit either, so the year is a gap in the record unless voluntary Class 2 is bought at £3.65 a week. Getting over £7,105 quietly removes that decision.
Building the £632 bill
Income Tax is simple at this level. Take away the Personal Allowance of £12,570, and £2,430 remains, all of it at the basic rate of 20 %: £486. Class 4 uses the same starting point, which is why the two charges move in step until much higher up. In Scotland the taxable slice is small enough to fit inside the starter band, the first £3,967 of taxable income at 19 %, so Income Tax there is £462. The table follows the same person from the Class 2 threshold up to £20,000.
| Profit | Class 2 | Income Tax | Class 4 | Bill | Payments on account |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| £7,105 | Treated as paid | £0 | £0 | £0 | None |
| £10,000 | Treated as paid | £0 | £0 | £0 | None |
| £12,570 | Treated as paid | £0 | £0 | £0 | None |
| £15,000 | Treated as paid | £486 | £146 | £632 | None |
| £16,420 | Treated as paid | £770 | £231 | £1,001 | £501 each |
| £20,000 | Treated as paid | £1,486 | £446 | £1,932 | £966 each |
No payment on account below £1,000
Payments on account are advance instalments towards next year, each half of the last bill. HMRC skips them when the last bill was under £1,000, or when more than 80 % of the tax was already collected at source. For the 2026/27 year, that means a single payment of £632 by 31 January 2028. The comfortable position does not last long if the business grows. With no other income, the line is crossed at about £16,420 of profit. A year of £20,000 would mean £1,932 for the year itself plus a first instalment of £966 in the same January, then another £966 on 31 July 2028. More on that on the payments on account page.
Trading allowance or real costs
The £1,000 trading allowance is often mentioned to people starting out, but at £15,000 of profit it is rarely the better claim. It replaces actual expenses rather than sitting on top of them. A dog walker with almost no costs might gain a little from it; a mobile hairdresser buying products, or a courier paying for a van, will usually record more than £1,000 of genuine expenses and keep them. Every pound of allowable cost saves 26 % here, the combined rate on profit between £12,570 and £50,270. The expenses guide lists what HMRC accepts, and the calculator above shows the bill once your own figures are in.