A self-employed childminder earning £25,000 with £5,000 of allowable expenses would owe roughly £1,932 in income tax and National Insurance for the 2025/26 tax year. This childminder tax return example walks through the figures step by step, from gross income down to the final amount due, using HMRC’s childminder-specific expense rules that make the deductions much larger than a typical home-based business could claim.
Before the numbers, one boundary worth flagging: you must register as self-employed with HMRC by 5 October following the end of the tax year you started childminding.1GOV.UK. Self Assessment Tax Returns – Deadlines The example below assumes you’re already registered and have your Unique Taxpayer Reference in hand.
What Counts as an Allowable Expense
The £5,000 figure in the example isn’t arbitrary. It comes from four types of deduction HMRC allows childminders, and understanding each one matters because they’re what drives the final tax bill down.
Household Costs by Weekly Hours
Instead of measuring how much electricity each child uses, HMRC lets childminders claim agreed percentages of household running costs (water, heating, electricity) and fixed costs (mortgage interest or rent, council tax, insurance). The percentages rise with weekly minding hours:2HM Revenue & Customs. Business Income Manual – Care Providers: Childminders: Expenses
- 10 hours per week: 9% running, 3% fixed
- 15 hours: 13% running, 4% fixed
- 20 hours: 17% running, 5% fixed
- 25 hours: 21% running, 7% fixed
- 30 hours: 25% running, 8% fixed
- 35 hours: 29% running, 9% fixed
- 40 hours (full-time): 33% running, 10% fixed
Hours count only when you’re actively minding children, not general admin time. A childminder working 30 hours a week with £6,000 in annual gas and electricity bills would claim 25%, or £1,500, of those running costs without itemising individual usage.
Wear and Tear Allowance
Childminders can deduct 10% of total childminding income to cover wear and tear on furniture and household items.2HM Revenue & Customs. Business Income Manual – Care Providers: Childminders: Expenses It’s a flat allowance that replaces tracking individual replacement costs for sofas, carpets, curtains, and similar items that take a beating from small children. If you claim the 10%, you can’t also claim separately for replacing those same items, though reasonable cleaning costs tied directly to childminding stay claimable.
Food, Toys, and Direct Costs
Food and drink provided to minded children is deductible, and HMRC accepts reasonable estimates without receipts.2HM Revenue & Customs. Business Income Manual – Care Providers: Childminders: Expenses Beyond food, HMRC lists toys, books, outings, safety equipment such as stair gates and smoke alarms, stationery, travel fares, membership fees for childminding organisations, public liability insurance, and the business portion of telephone bills. These need receipts and come off at full cost.
The £1,000 Trading Allowance
Every self-employed individual can claim a flat £1,000 trading allowance instead of deducting actual expenses.3GOV.UK. 4GOV.UK. Income Tax Rates and Personal Allowances Subtracting it from £20,000 leaves taxable income of £7,430.
Step 3 – Income tax. All £7,430 sits inside the basic rate band (£12,571 to £50,270), taxed at 20%.4GOV.UK. Income Tax Rates and Personal Allowances That produces an income tax bill of £1,486.
Step 4 – Class 4 National Insurance. Class 4 NIC is charged at 6% on profits between £12,570 and £50,270.5GOV.UK. Self-Employed National Insurance Rates 6% of £7,430 comes to £445.80.
Step 5 – Class 2 National Insurance. Since April 2024, self-employed earners no longer pay Class 2 NIC. If profits reach £6,845, Class 2 is treated as paid for the purpose of protecting your National Insurance record.5GOV.UK. Self-Employed National Insurance Rates Nothing leaves your pocket.
Total. £1,486 in income tax plus £445.80 Class 4 NIC comes to roughly £1,932 due to HMRC.
The expenses do the heavy lifting. Strip out the £5,000 in deductions and taxable income becomes £12,430 rather than £7,430, pushing the combined bill above £3,100. Careful expense records are worth real money.
Where the Figures Go on the Return
Childminders report income and expenses on the SA103S supplementary pages, which sit alongside the main SA100 return.6GOV.UK. Self Assessment – Self-Employment (Short) SA103S The short version applies to businesses below the VAT threshold, which covers almost all childminders. Filing online, the system pulls up the self-employment pages automatically once you tick self-employed.
The online filing deadline is 31 January following the end of the tax year. For 2025/26 (April 2025 to April 2026), that means 31 January 2027. Paper returns are due earlier, by 31 October 2026.1GOV.UK. Self Assessment Tax Returns – Deadlines Online is faster, gives three extra months, and calculates the tax for you. Save the submission receipt the system produces; it’s your proof of timely filing if HMRC ever queries it.
Paying the Bill and Payments on Account
Payment is due by 31 January, the same day as online filing.7GOV.UK. Pay Your Self Assessment Tax Bill Bank transfer, debit card, or an approved bank payment app all work.
If the bill exceeds £1,000, HMRC also requires payments on account towards the following year. Each instalment equals half the previous year’s bill and is due on 31 January and 31 July.8GOV.UK. Understand Your Self Assessment Tax Bill – Payments on Account Using the example above, a £1,932 bill triggers two payments on account of roughly £966 each towards next year’s liability, on top of the current year’s balance. Many childminders are caught out in their second year, when the January payment effectively covers 1.5 years’ worth of tax at once.
Penalties If You File or Pay Late
HMRC treats late filing and late payment as separate offences with separate penalties.9GOV.UK. Self Assessment Tax Returns – Penalties
Late filing escalates on a set timetable:
- Immediately: £100 fixed penalty, even if you owe no tax
- After 3 months: £10 per day for up to 90 days (maximum £900)
- After 6 months: 5% of the tax due or £300, whichever is greater
- After 12 months: another 5% of the tax due or £300, whichever is greater
Late payment works differently. HMRC adds a 5% surcharge on any amount still unpaid at 30 days, another 5% at 6 months, and a further 5% at 12 months. Interest runs on the outstanding balance from the due date, currently set at the Bank of England base rate plus 4%.10HM Revenue & Customs. HMRC Interest Rates for Late and Early Payments A childminder who files on time but pays six months late could face 10% in surcharges plus daily interest. Getting the return in by 31 January, even without the money, at least keeps the filing penalties off the pile.
Making Tax Digital from April 2026
From April 2026, HMRC’s Making Tax Digital for Income Tax Self Assessment begins rolling out. Childminders with gross income above £50,000 will need to keep digital records and submit quarterly updates rather than filing a single annual return. Childminders inside MTD can no longer use the special childminder expense agreement described above and must follow the same expense and record-keeping rules as any other business.2HM Revenue & Customs. Business Income Manual – Care Providers: Childminders: Expenses
Most childminders earn well under £50,000, so the change won’t bite straight away. The threshold drops to £30,000 from April 2027, which will pull more providers in. If you’re close to either threshold, it’s worth planning now rather than scrambling later.