If you started tattooing in the last year, your first tax deadline is 5 October

You did your first proper year in the chair and put "sort my tax" in the diary for January. That date is real, but it is not your first one. If you started working for yourself as a tattoo artist during the last tax year, you have to tell HMRC by 5 October. For the 2025/26 tax year that means 5 October 2026. Registering is free, it takes minutes, and doing it now clears a risk that sits quietly in the background until it doesn't.

The short version

• If you started self-employed tattooing in the 2025/26 tax year (6 April 2025 to 5 April 2026), your deadline to register for Self Assessment is 5 October 2026.
• The January date everyone talks about is the deadline to file and pay, not to register. Registering comes first.
• You must register if your gross self-employed income was over £1,000 in the year. Under £1,000 and you often do not need to, though there are exceptions.
• Registering is free and done online. There is no penalty for registering early.
• Miss it and it becomes a "failure to notify". Whether that costs you depends on the tax you owe and how you put it right, but the clean move is to register now and never find out.

Why 5 October, not January

There are two separate deadlines and new artists blur them into one. The 31 January date is when you file your return and pay what you owe. Before any of that, you have to be registered for Self Assessment so HMRC knows to expect a return from you. That registration deadline is 5 October after the end of the tax year you started in.

So if your first paid tattooing as a sole trader happened any time between 6 April 2025 and 5 April 2026, the clock is already running and 5 October 2026 is your date. Leave registration until January and you have missed a deadline that closed three months earlier, even if you still file on time.

Do you actually need to register

You need to register if your gross self-employed income for the year was more than £1,000. That is gross, your takings before you deduct anything, not your profit. For most working artists, even part-time ones doing guest spots and conventions, you clear £1,000 quickly, so registration applies.

If you earned £1,000 or less from tattooing across the whole year, the trading allowance can mean you do not need to register, though there are situations where you still should. If you are near the line, check our Self Assessment guide rather than guess.

What happens if you miss 5 October

It becomes what HMRC calls a failure to notify. It is not an automatic fixed fine like the late-filing penalty. The amount, if any, is worked out from the tax you owed and how you behaved: whether you came forward yourself or HMRC found it, and how long it took you to put right.

In practice, if you register late but still file and pay everything by 31 January, there is often little or no penalty, because no tax was lost. But you are relying on goodwill and good timing, and interest can still run on anything paid late. None of that is worth it when registering early is free and takes ten minutes. Register, and the question never comes up.

How to register

You register online with HMRC as a sole trader, which also sets up your Class 2 National Insurance record. You get a Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR) by post, so do not leave it to the last week: the UTR can take a couple of weeks to arrive and you need it to file later. Once you are registered, the next things to get right are setting money aside and knowing what you can claim. Our first six months checklist and allowable expenses guide cover both.

Common questions

When exactly do I have to register?

By 5 October after the end of the tax year you started trading in. Started during the 2025/26 tax year (which ended 5 April 2026)? Your deadline is 5 October 2026. The tax year runs 6 April to 5 April.

Is registering the same as filing my tax return?

No. Registering tells HMRC you are self-employed so they expect a return from you. Filing and paying come later, by 31 January. You register first, and it is a separate, earlier deadline.

Do I need to register if tattooing is only a side income?

If your gross tattooing income was over £1,000 in the year, yes, even alongside a job. Under £1,000 and the trading allowance often covers you, but check, because some situations still require registration.

What does it cost to register?

Nothing. Registering for Self Assessment is free. The costs come later (the tax itself, and an accountant if you use one), not from registering.

What if I already missed 5 October?

Register as soon as you can. The sooner you come forward yourself and pay what you owe, the smaller any failure-to-notify penalty is likely to be, and often there is none if no tax was lost. Do not let a missed registration turn into a missed payment on top.

The bottom line

The deadline new tattoo artists miss is not the famous January one. It is the quiet 5 October registration that comes first. If you started self-employed in the last tax year, register now: it is free, it takes minutes, and it closes off a penalty you would otherwise be gambling on. For exactly how to register, what to set aside, and how the whole return works, read our cornerstone guide: Self Assessment for tattoo artists. And once you are filing, watch for the second payment on account in July, the next thing that catches people out.