Are you in? It’s your takings, not your profit
Add up everything you were paid in the 2025/26 tax year – one-to-one sessions, block packages, bootcamps and classes, online coaching subscriptions, app sales and fees from gyms for teaching classes as a freelancer – before taking off gym rent or anything else. If that is over £30,000 (with any rental income), MTD applies to you from 6 April 2027. Over £50,000 and you have been in since April 2026.
Over £50,000
Over £30,000
Over £20,000
planned
Your work in accountant language
What actually happens in your working life, what your accountant and HMRC call it, and what to do about it.
| What happens | Accountant calls it | What you do |
|---|---|---|
| A client buys a block of 10 sessions up front | Sales / turnover when paid (cash basis) | Record the full amount when it lands, not session by session. |
| A gym pays you for teaching three spin classes a week | Turnover – freelance fees | Record each invoice or payment. It is business income, not wages. |
| Online coaching subscribers pay monthly through Stripe or an app | Gross income + an expense (fees) | Record the gross subscription total and the platform/payment fees separately. |
| You pay the gym its monthly rent or licence fee | Allowable expense – rent | Keep the invoice or direct debit record. |
| You buy kettlebells, resistance bands and a heart-rate monitor | Equipment – deductible when paid for (cash basis) | Photograph the receipt into your app. |
| You drive to a client’s home or the park for a bootcamp | Business mileage – allowable expense | Log it; 45p a mile for the first 10,000 miles. |
| You move money to your personal account | Drawings – not an expense | It doesn’t reduce your tax. |
| Every three months | Quarterly update | Your software sends HMRC your income and expense totals. |
| After 5 April | Final declaration | Confirm the year’s figures; tax is worked out and due by 31 January. |
What can a personal trainer claim?
✓ Usually allowable
- Gym rent, floor fees or studio hire
- Training equipment: weights, bands, mats, boxing pads
- Coaching apps, programme software and website costs
- Payment fees from Stripe, PayPal or your booking app
- Professional insurance and registration fees
- CPD courses that keep your existing qualifications current
- Branded kit you wear only for work (with your logo)
- Advertising, social media ads and filming kit used for content
- Mileage to clients’ homes, parks and other venues
- Home office flat rate if you plan programmes from home
✗ Not allowable
- Your own gym membership for personal training
- Supplements, food and protein you eat yourself
- Everyday sportswear without a logo
- Travel from home to the gym where you always work
- Your first PT qualification (a new skill, not a refresher)
- Money you take out for yourself (drawings)
Rules that matter for personal trainers
Block bookings and subscriptions
Under the cash basis, money is income when you receive it. Selling lots of blocks in January can make your January–April quarter look very busy, even though you deliver the sessions later. That is fine – just record it as it comes in.
Gym-employed or freelance?
If a gym pays you through payroll for classes, that is employment income and stays out of MTD. If you invoice them as a freelancer, it is self-employed income and counts. Some trainers have both.
Gym kit and clothing
Ordinary leggings and trainers are everyday clothing, even if you only wear them at work, so they are not allowable. Branded tops that work as a uniform usually are.
Online coaching from abroad
Clients who pay you from overseas are still part of your UK self-employed income. Record them in pounds at the amount that reaches your account, with any conversion fees as an expense.
Worked example
Marcus trains clients in a Manchester gym and runs online coaching (illustrative example)
| Takings (turnover) | £41,800 |
| less Gym rent (£700 a month) | −£8,400 |
| less Equipment and kit | −£950 |
| less Coaching app, website and Stripe fees | −£1,500 |
| less Insurance and CPD courses | −£860 |
| less Advertising and content | −£1,200 |
| less Mileage to outdoor sessions (2,400 miles) | −£1,080 |
| Profit | £27,810 |
| Income tax (estimate) | £3,048 |
| Class 4 National Insurance (estimate) | £914 |
| Total tax for the year | £3,962 |
| Put aside each month | £330 |
Estimate for 2026/27 using England, Wales & NI rates, assuming no other income. Scotland has different income tax bands.
What a quarterly update looks like
A typical quarter for a PT: pull the payout reports from Stripe and your booking app, check gym class invoices have been paid, add any cash or bank transfers from in-person clients, then add gym rent, equipment receipts and the mileage log. Your software sends the totals to HMRC. Fifteen minutes between clients each week beats a panic before the deadline.
| Quarter | Period | Submit by |
|---|---|---|
| Q1 | 6 Apr – 5 Jul | 7 Aug |
| Q2 | 6 Jul – 5 Oct | 7 Nov |
| Q3 | 6 Oct – 5 Jan | 7 Feb |
| Q4 | 6 Jan – 5 Apr | 7 May |
| Final declaration | The whole tax year | 31 Jan following |
Quarterly updates are summaries – they don’t change when you pay. Tax is still due by 31 January (plus payments on account on 31 January and 31 July if they apply to you).
What will an accountant cost?
Typical monthly fees under MTD for Income Tax for: Sole trader, one business.
| Option | What you get | Per month |
|---|---|---|
| You do it yourself | MTD-compatible software. You keep the records and send the updates. | £0–£15up to £180 a year |
| Accountant files for you | You keep records in an app; they check them, send the 4 quarterly updates and the final declaration. | £30–£60about £360–£720 a year |
| Full service | They do the bookkeeping too – you share receipts and bank feeds, they handle the rest. | £60–£120about £720–£1,440 a year |
What pushes the price up: lots of transactions every month, or more than one income stream; records kept on paper rather than in an app; being VAT-registered; catching up on missed updates or late returns.
What a fixed-fee quote should include
- All 4 quarterly updates and the final declaration (your tax return)
- The MTD software licence – or whether you pay for it separately
- Whether they do the bookkeeping or only check what you’ve recorded
- A reminder before each deadline and an estimate of the tax to put aside
- Whether VAT (20%) is added on top – not every practice charges it
Accountancy fees for your business are an allowable expense, so they reduce your tax bill.
Indicative ranges from published UK price lists, checked October 2026. Not a quote – your fee depends on how many transactions you have, how tidy your records are and where you live.
Questions personal trainers ask
A client paid for 20 sessions in March but we finish them in May. Which tax year is it?
Under the cash basis, it is income when you receive it – so the tax year the money landed in.
Can I claim my protein shakes and supplements?
No. Food and drink you consume yourself are personal, even if fitness is your job.
I teach classes on a gym’s payroll and train my own clients too. What counts for MTD?
Only your self-employed income – your own clients and any classes you invoice for. Wages from the gym’s payroll are not counted towards the MTD threshold.
Can I claim a new course in sports massage?
Usually not, if it gives you a new skill or qualification. Courses that update skills you already use in your business normally are allowable.
Sources
- Find out if and when you need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax – GOV.UK
- Work out your qualifying income for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax – GOV.UK
- Send quarterly updates using Making Tax Digital for Income Tax – GOV.UK
- Find software that works with Making Tax Digital for Income Tax – GOV.UK
- Penalties for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax – GOV.UK
This guide is general information about HMRC’s Making Tax Digital rules as of 26 October 2026, not tax advice. MTD Match is an independent introduction service and is not affiliated with HMRC. Check gov.uk or speak to an accountant about your own situation.