About Freelance Tax UK

Freelance Tax UK is a free calculator that shows self-employed people exactly how much tax they'll owe HMRC. We built it because the combination of Income Tax, Class 2 NI, Class 4 NI, and payments on account confuses most new freelancers. And getting surprised by a £10,000+ January tax bill isn't a great way to start a business.

How we calculate

Our calculator takes your gross income, deducts your expenses to find taxable profit, then applies the correct Income Tax bands, Class 2 NI flat rate, and Class 4 NI bands for 2026/27. We then calculate your payment on account liability (50% of the current year's bill) to show you what your first January and July payments will actually be.

The "compare to employment" feature calculates what an employee on the same gross salary would take home, including employee NI but excluding employer benefits like pension contributions. This gives you a like-for-like cash comparison.

Our sources

• Income Tax bands and rates: HMRC published rates for 2026/27
• NI thresholds and rates: HMRC National Insurance rates for 2026/27
• Class 2 weekly rate: HMRC self-employed NI rates
• Payment on account rules: HMRC Self Assessment payment on account guidance
• Allowable expenses guidance: HMRC Business Income Manual (BIM)

Limitations

We assume a single self-employment source with no other income. If you have employment income, rental income, or investment income alongside your freelance work, your tax position will be different (higher bands used up faster). We also don't model student loan repayments, child benefit clawback, or the marriage allowance transfer.

Who runs this site

Freelance Tax UK is operated by Quicksolve Digital Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales (Company No. 17385486). We build free financial calculator tools for UK consumers and freelancers.

Contact

For corrections, data queries, or partnership enquiries: hello@freelancetax.uk