Do you need to register?
If you earn more than £1,000 from self-employment in a tax year (6 April to 5 April), you need to register for Self Assessment. That £1,000 is called the trading allowance, and it's based on what you earn before expenses.
That's true even if you've got another job alongside your cleaning.
The deadline
You must register by 5 October after the end of the tax year you started in.
So if you started cleaning in, say, November 2026, that's the 2026/27 tax year, and your deadline to register is 5 October 2027. You can start working straight away. You don't need permission first, but miss the deadline and you can be fined.
How to register
- Go to gov.uk/register-for-self-assessment
- Choose the self-employed or sole trader option
- Have your National Insurance number and the date you started ready
- HMRC will send your Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR) by post. Keep it safe, you'll need it every year
Set money aside for tax
This is where new cleaners get caught out. Nobody takes tax off for you, so you need to save it yourself.
Put aside a quarter to a third of your profit every month in a separate account. Your first tax bill can be a shock, because as well as the tax for that year, HMRC may ask for an advance payment towards the next one. The tax return and payment are due by 31 January.
Easiest habit: every time a client pays you, move a quarter of it straight into a savings pot you don't touch.
What you can claim as expenses
Business costs come off your profit, so you pay less tax. For cleaners that usually includes:
- Cleaning products, cloths, mops and equipment
- Your insurance
- Mileage between jobs, using HMRC's simplified rate of 45p a mile for the first 10,000 business miles
- The business share of your phone
- Workwear with your logo on
Keep receipts, or photos of them, for everything. A simple spreadsheet or app is fine.
Making Tax Digital is on the way
HMRC is changing how the self-employed report their income. Under Making Tax Digital, you keep digital records and send quarterly updates using approved software:
- From April 2026 if your income is over £50,000
- From April 2027 if it's over £30,000
- From April 2028 if it's over £20,000
Most solo cleaners will be caught by the 2027 or 2028 stage, so it's worth getting into the habit of digital records now.
What about National Insurance and VAT?
National Insurance: it's worked out through your tax return. If your profits are low, you may want to pay voluntary contributions to protect your State Pension. Check your situation on gov.uk.
VAT: you only have to register if your turnover goes over £90,000 a year. Most solo cleaners are nowhere near that.
This is general information, not financial advice. Tax rules change, so check gov.uk or speak to an accountant for your own situation. Last checked September 2026.