One of the questions we often get asked by students is - do I have to pay tax on my freelance income? The answer of course is yes. The bad news is, the tax code in the UK runs to 10,000 pages, and there is no human being who knows the whole code. But every freelance artist needs to know at least the basics. Below is a short introduction to how the system works, from a self-employed artist's perspective. It is by no means complete, and it is no substitute for paying a qualified accountant to give you proper advice (which is highly recommended), but it should explain some of the basic rules of tax survival for freelancers, and get you pointed in the right direction.
