Newly self-employed issued HMRC guidance

Guidance for newly self-employed people waiting for HM Revenue & Customs to send them their first tax bill has been released by the tax authority.

According to HMRC, when a person starts self-employment, they will not get their first tax bill for a while, meaning “you need to think about how much money to set aside now.”

To this end, the Revenue has drawn up a table on the approximate amounts to set aside for tax and Class 4 National Insurance, in relation to estimated weekly and monthly profit figures.

Although the provided chart does not factor in Class 2 National Insurance (around £2.50 a week for 2011-12), HMRC said it should still help a self-employed person who has no other taxable income estimate their potential bill.

However, the exact amount of tax and/or Class 4 National Insurance contributions due and payable can only be worked out once the self-employed person completes their self -assessment tax return, HMRC said.