What a sole trader actually takes home.
The classic way to work for yourself. Enter your income and expenses and see what's left after income tax, Class 4 National Insurance and your Self Assessment bill — every rate cited to gov.uk.
Pension contribution (optional)
Paid from taxed income — HMRC adds 25% basic-rate relief on top, and higher earners get extra relief through Self Assessment.
Student loans (optional)
Other PAYE income (optional)
If you also have an employed job, enter the gross salary here — it uses up your allowance and bands before your profits.
£3,047/month · £9,142/quarter
Payments on account
Class 2 NI is treated as £0 — largely abolished from April 2024.
Payments on account assume a first Self Assessment year (no prior payments on account).
Your money, sliced.
- Take-home
- Income tax
- Class 4 NI
How sole trader tax works
As a sole trader, you and your business are one and the same for tax. You pay tax on your profit — income minus allowable expenses (or the flat £1,000 trading allowance, whichever is bigger). That profit gets the same £12,570personal allowance and the same income tax bands as a salary. What differs is National Insurance: instead of the employee’s Class 1, you pay Class 4 at 6% on profits between £12,570 and £50,270, then 2% above. Class 2 has been effectively abolished since April 2024.
You report it all through Self Assessment by 31 January. If your bill tops £1,000, HMRC also asks for payments on account — two advance instalments towards next year’s bill, due 31 January and 31 July. The calculator above shows both, so there are no surprises.
Sole trader or limited company?
It’s the question every growing sole trader asks. The honest answer for 2025/26: the tax gap is much smaller than it used to be, and a limited company isn’t automatically better. See a side-by-side of both at your profit level with our limited company vs sole trader comparison.
Questions people ask
Sources
Every rate in this calculator comes from an official gov.uk page: