Clinic Room Rental Works the Same as Any Split-Fee Arrangement
Many self-employed nutritionists and dietitians see clients from a rented room within a wider clinic or health centre, paying a fixed session or monthly rent and keeping what clients pay them directly. Your qualifying income for MTD is the full client fee before that room rent is deducted, not your net take-home after rent — the rent itself is then claimed back separately as a business expense.
Consultation Packages and Online Programmes
A growing share of nutrition and dietetics work happens through multi-session packages or online programmes, often paid upfront. Under the cash basis, which most sole traders use, a client paying for a 3-month package counts as income when you receive the payment, not spread across the months you deliver the consultations. If you sell a self-paced online programme through a course platform, your qualifying income is the gross sale price before the platform's fee, not your net payout.
Worked Example
Elodie. Registered nutritionist seeing clients from a rented room in a health centre two days a week, plus running an online 8-week programme.
Clinic client fees (gross, before room rent): £19,600
Online programme sales (gross, before platform fee): £11,800 Total qualifying income: £31,400 — above the £30,000 Phase 2 threshold. Elodie joins MTD from April 2027. The room rent she pays the health centre and the platform fee on her online programme are both claimed back as business expenses, but her qualifying income is the full gross amount before either deduction.
What You Can Claim
Clinic room rent or health centre space fees
Professional body registration — BDA, BANT, ANP, and required CPD
Professional indemnity insurance
Platform fees if selling online programmes through a course platform
Assessment tools and software — nutrition analysis software, booking systems
Marketing and content costs for building an online client base
