By profit
Sole trader tax on a £30,000 profit
Thirty thousand pounds is where quarterly digital reporting arrives for many sole traders, and where the Scottish intermediate rate takes its first slice.
On £30,000 of self-employed profit, 2026/27 Income Tax comes to £3,486 and Class 4 to £1,046 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, so HMRC is owed £4,532 and £25,468 remains. A Scottish taxpayer is charged £4,497. The two land close together because two Scottish features pull in opposite directions: the 19 % starter band saves a little at the bottom, while the 21 % intermediate rate, which begins at £29,527, takes some of it back on the top £474. This profit level is also the second Making Tax Digital threshold. Sole traders and landlords whose 2025/26 return shows qualifying income of more than £30,000 keep digital records and send quarterly updates from 6 April 2027, and HMRC measures that on turnover before costs. Anyone earning this profit with real expenses to deduct is therefore very likely to be in the April 2027 group.
Self Assessment bill 2026/27
£4,532
Put aside 15.1 % of your profit · next £100 of profit costs 26.0 %
| Profit | £30,000 |
| Income Tax | £3,486 |
| Class 4 National Insurance | £1,046 |
| Class 2 | treated as paid |
| Kept from your profit | £25,468 |
When you pay, if 2026/27 is your first year
| 31 January 2028: bill + first payment on account | £6,798 |
| 31 July 2028: second payment on account | £2,266 |
Each payment on account is half of £4,532 (Income Tax and Class 4, loans excluded). How payments on account work
Making Tax Digital at this turnover
Turnover of £30,000 is over the £20,000 test. If your 2026/27 return showed income like this, quarterly updates start on 6 April 2028. Check your start date
Figures checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How we calculate
Turnover in 2025/26 decides April 2027
The second wave of Making Tax Digital is set by the tax return for 2025/26, the one most people file by January 2027. Qualifying income above £30,000 brings you in on 6 April 2027. That figure is gross: sales from every self-employment plus rents, with no deduction for costs. A hairdresser renting a chair, taking £38,000 and paying £8,000 in rent and products, makes exactly the profit on this page and starts on 6 April 2027. A freelance translator with £30,000 of sales and nothing to deduct is not above the bar and waits until 6 April 2028. Profit, in other words, says little about the date; the top line of the accounts says everything. The Making Tax Digital checker applies the three tests to your own figures.
The 21 % band from £29,527
Scotland splits basic-rate income into three parts. A sole trader on £30,000 touches all of them, and the last £474 is in the intermediate band. The result is a bill only £35 lighter than the one paid in Cardiff or Belfast, and a marginal rate that has already moved: each extra pound now costs 27 % in Scotland against 26 % elsewhere, once Class 4 is added.
| Scottish band | Rate | Slice of taxable profit | Tax |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter rate | 19 % | £3,967 | £754 |
| Basic rate | 20 % | £12,989 | £2,598 |
| Intermediate rate | 21 % | £474 | £100 |
| Total Income Tax, Scotland | £17,430 | £3,451 | |
| Total Income Tax, rest of the UK | £17,430 | £3,486 |
What the quarters look like
Under Making Tax Digital the tax itself does not change, and neither does the payment date: the bill of £4,532 for 2026/27 is still settled by 31 January 2028. What changes is the rhythm of the records. Software totals income and expenses every three months and sends a summary, which HMRC describes as an update rather than a return. On standard periods the first quarter runs 6 April to 5 July with a deadline of 7 August, the second to 7 November, then 7 February and 7 May. A sole trader whose books run 1 April to 31 March can opt for calendar periods instead, and the deadlines stay the same. Dates and grace rules are on the quarterly deadlines page.
Living on £25,468
After tax, the year leaves £2,122 a month to spend in England, Wales or Northern Ireland. The amount to keep aside is £378 a month in a settled year, but a business reaching £30,000 for the first time should plan for £566, because the first January also asks for a payment on account of £2,266. Anyone repaying a Plan 2 student loan through Self Assessment needs a further £55 on top; the student loan page shows how that is collected.