Frequently asked questions

A tool for self-employed drivers — taxi, private hire, courier and delivery — to record what they take in and what it costs to work, so you can see what you actually earned. Paid plans add reporting, a Self Assessment figures summary, and (once available) direct HMRC submission.

No. It organises the figures you enter and applies simple, published rules — like HMRC's expense categories — to them. It doesn't know your other income, allowances or personal circumstances, so it can't give advice specific to you. Anything here or in the app that reads as general information is exactly that: general, not personal.

Free records your takings and costs. Business adds full history and reporting. Self Assessment sorts your turnover and expenses into the same boxes HMRC's Self Assessment return uses, ready for you to file yourself or hand to an accountant — it doesn't submit anything anywhere. MTD adds connecting your HMRC account and sending your quarterly figures to HMRC directly, once that pathway is live.

Your records are stored with Supabase, behind your own login — DriverTakings never sees your password. See the Privacy Policy for the full detail.

HMRC's system for people who don't have tax deducted automatically through PAYE — most self-employed drivers included. You (or your accountant) report what you earned and what it cost you to earn it once a year, and HMRC works out the tax and National Insurance due.

The tax year runs 6 April to 5 April. The online return, and any tax owed for that year, is due by 31 January the following year (paper returns are due earlier, 31 October). Missing it brings an automatic penalty even if you don't owe anything.

If your Self Assessment bill is over £1,000, and less than 80% of it was already collected some other way, HMRC usually asks for half of next year's estimated bill in advance, in two instalments — 31 January and 31 July — on top of what's owed for the year just finished. It catches a lot of newly self-employed people out in year two. Check gov.uk, or ask an accountant, if you're not sure it applies to you.

HMRC lets you deduct reasonable costs of earning your income before working out your tax — for a driver that typically covers fuel, vehicle servicing and repairs, tyres, vehicle finance or rental, insurance, licensing, platform or operator commission, and things like phone/data used for the job. It doesn't cover fines and penalties. DriverTakings' cost categories already follow this pattern — see the full list when you add a cost.

If you're driving for yourself, rather than as someone's employee, and expect to earn over £1,000 in a tax year, HMRC generally expects you to register for Self Assessment — usually a quick process online, with a deadline of 5 October following the end of the tax year you started driving in.

Mainly Class 4, calculated as a percentage of profits above a threshold, paid alongside your Self Assessment bill. Class 2 no longer needs a separate payment if your profits are above the small profits threshold — it's treated as paid, protecting your National Insurance record — though you can pay it voluntarily if your profits are lower. Rates and thresholds change most tax years, so check gov.uk for the current numbers rather than last year's.

HMRC's move to replace the annual Self Assessment return with digital record-keeping and regular (usually quarterly) online updates submitted through approved software like DriverTakings, plus a Final Declaration at the end of the year. It's been delayed several times since it was first announced in 2015.

Only once your gross income — takings before any costs, not profit — from self-employment and property crosses a threshold: over £50,000 from April 2026, over £30,000 from April 2027, over £20,000 from April 2028. Because it's based on turnover rather than profit, it can catch you sooner than you'd expect — a full-time driver can clear these thresholds in fares even where actual take-home profit is a lot lower. HMRC checks this against the Self Assessment return you've already filed, so it isn't something you opt into or guess at — they'll tell you.

No plan files your Self Assessment return. Self Assessment (the plan) prepares your figures, sorted the way HMRC's return expects, for you to enter yourself or hand to an accountant. MTD, once live, sends your regular figures to HMRC directly when you confirm it — but the Final Declaration that completes your tax year is a separate step, not something DriverTakings currently does for you.

Not for Self Assessment purposes — HMRC treats your self-employment as one trade, so income and costs from every platform get added together into one set of figures, not reported per app. That's what the CSV import for Uber, Bolt and Just Eat statements is for.

They're generally allowable business expenses if the vehicle and licence are for your driving work — record them under Costs and they'll flow into your reporting and (on Self Assessment or MTD) your figures automatically. The Driver & vehicle page also tracks MOT and licence expiry dates so you don't get caught off the road.