Bridal makeup work is heavily seasonal — May to September typically brings the bulk of a UK MUA's wedding bookings, while winter months lean on smaller freelance jobs, photoshoots, and events. Like every seasonal trade, your MTD threshold is based on your total qualifying income across the full tax year, taken from your most recently filed return, not on how packed your summer diary looks.
Where this catches people out is deposits. If you take a 25% deposit in January for a wedding in August, that deposit is reported as income in the quarter you received it, not the quarter of the wedding itself, under the cash basis most sole traders use.
Bridal trials, travel charges to the venue, and group bookings (bridal party makeup alongside the bride) are all separate chargeable income streams that need to be tracked, even when invoiced together as one wedding package. Breaking these down in your own records makes your quarterly MTD updates far more accurate, and gives you a clearer picture of which parts of your pricing are actually profitable once travel time and kit costs are factored in.
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Under the cash basis, which is the default for most sole traders, a deposit counts as income on the date you receive it, not the date of the wedding. A deposit taken in January for an August wedding is reported in the quarter you were paid.
No. HMRC checks your total qualifying income from your most recently filed tax return, not in real time. A packed summer doesn't trigger MTD mid-season — what matters is your income across the whole tax year.
Yes, all of it is part of your qualifying income for MTD purposes, even if you itemise trials, travel, and the wedding day fee separately on your invoice for clarity.
Yes, makeup products, brushes, and equipment bought for client work are allowable business expenses. Larger kit investments may qualify for the Annual Investment Allowance, letting you deduct the full cost in the year you buy it.
Only once your self-employment income is above £1,000 a year (the trading allowance) do you need to register for Self Assessment at all, and MTD itself only applies once your total self-employment and property income crosses the relevant threshold, which most casual side-work sits well under.