Working as a self-employed tutor
When working as a tutor for Tutor Trust, you are self-employed. This means:
- You need to register as self-employed with HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), or you could be fined
- Registering as self-employed is your responsibility and Tutor Trust cannot do it for you
- You are required to manage your own Income Tax and National Insurance payments
- We do not supply any financial referencing including P60 or PAYE reference
- Travel costs to/from tuition will not be reimbursed unless otherwise stated
Note: Many tutors’ earnings from Tutor Trust will remain below the personal tax threshold (the level of earnings where you start paying tax). At our standard rates of pay, you would need to deliver more than 570 hours of tuition in a financial year to go over this threshold. Although you may not be liable for tax, you still need to register and submit a return. By 31 January each year, you will be asked to report to HMRC your earnings for the tax year ending 5 April from the previous year.
A guide for registering as self-employed:
The easiest way to register is simply to set up as self-employed (also known as a sole trader). There is a step-by-step guide on the Government website. The main pieces of information you will need initially are your National Insurance number and your contact details. All of the text refers to Registering your new business with HMRC; if you are self-employed, you are classed as having a business. The business name will simply be your own name as a sole trader.
If you have any issues at all, please visit the HMRC self-assessment general enquiries contact page for assistance.
You don’t have to do this before you start working for Tutor Trust, but it would be sensible to do it as soon as possible, and make sure you have got official advice from HMRC and understand what is required of you. Please do not phone the Tutor Trust office with tax queries as we are unable to help.
