Barber tools › Money
What to put by for the taxman
The January bill catches people out because nothing takes the money off you as you earn it. This works out roughly what is owed on a year's profit so you can put it by weekly instead of finding it in one go. It is an estimate to plan with, not a tax return.
Everything through the till, before anything comes out
Chair rent or their share. 0 if it is your shop
Products, clippers, insurance, accountant
Scotland sets its own income tax bands
Tax comes off profit, and profit starts with knowing what you actually took. That is the bit worth tracking every week.
Know Your Chair logs seven numbers a week and turns them into utilisation, revenue per hour, and what your gaps are costing you — tracked over time instead of worked out once.
Try it freeFree while we build it. No card.
This is an estimate, and it is not advice
It uses the 2026/27 rates published on gov.uk and does nothing clever. It knows nothing about your other income, a partner's allowance, a student loan, payments on account, capital allowances on a big kit purchase, or anything else that makes a real return different from a sum. Use it to plan what to put by. Use an accountant, or HMRC, to file.
Profit is not takings
Tax is worked out on what is left after the costs of running the chair, not on everything that goes through the till. Chair rent, products, clippers, barbicide, your insurance and your accountant all come off first. Getting the costs right is worth more than any clever planning.
Scotland is genuinely different
Six bands instead of three, and the 42% rate starts at £43,663 where the rest of the UK is still on 20% until £50,270. A barber having a very good year in Edinburgh keeps less of the top slice than one in Manchester. National Insurance does not change — that is set for the whole UK.
Put it by weekly, not in January
The bill arrives long after the money did, which is what catches people. Moving the weekly figure into a separate account on the same day you cash up turns a frightening January into an administrative one. If you are in your first year, be ready for payments on account too, which can make the first bill about half as large again.
Common questions
How much tax does a self-employed barber pay?
You pay income tax and Class 4 National Insurance on your profit, which is your takings after chair rent, products and the rest of your costs. On a £42,100 profit outside Scotland that is roughly £7,700 all in, around 18% of the profit. Nothing is taken off as you earn, so it has to be put by.
How much should I put aside for tax as a barber?
Working out your own figure beats any rule of thumb, but if you want a starting point, a quarter of your profit put aside weekly covers most barbers with room to spare. The calculator above turns your own numbers into a weekly amount.
Is chair rent tax deductible?
Chair rent is a cost of running your business, so it comes off your takings before tax is worked out — which is why it goes in its own box above. Products, clippers, insurance and your accountant's fee work the same way. HMRC has the full list of allowable expenses.
Do barbers in Scotland pay more tax?
Scotland sets its own income tax bands and they differ from the rest of the UK, most noticeably because the 42% rate starts at £43,663 rather than the £50,271 that applies elsewhere. National Insurance is the same across the UK. Switch the box above to see your own difference.
Do I still pay Class 2 National Insurance?
Not as a compulsory charge. Class 2 stopped being mandatory in April 2024 and is treated as paid to protect your record. If your profit is very low you can still pay it voluntarily to keep your state pension years.