Private chefs and mobile caterers deal with a version of the "what actually counts as my income" question that's specific to food: ingredients bought for a client are stock, not a personal grocery run, and mixing the two is the single most common trigger for an HMRC query in this trade.
Ingredients bought specifically to cook for paying clients are a fully deductible cost of sales. The most common problem HMRC finds in this trade is a food bill that obviously mixes business ingredients with a household's weekly shop. A separate card or account for client grocery runs makes this simple to prove and keeps every receipt cleanly on one side of the line.
Weddings and large events are often booked and deposited months ahead. Under the cash basis, the default for most sole traders, a deposit counts as income on the date you receive it, not the date of the event, so a deposit taken in spring for a summer wedding is reported in the quarter you were paid.
Most catering services are standard-rated for VAT at 20%, and a busy events season, weddings, corporate functions, Christmas parties, can push a caterer's rolling 12-month turnover towards the £90,000 VAT registration threshold faster than lower-turnover trades. This is a separate registration from MTD, but worth tracking on the same rolling basis.
Grace's MTD threshold check uses her gross turnover of £44,500 (before ingredient costs), not her lower profit figure. That's under the current £50,000 threshold but above the £30,000 threshold arriving April 2027.
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Yes, ingredients bought specifically to cook for paying clients count as stock, or cost of sales, and are fully deductible. The most common HMRC challenge is a food bill that mixes business ingredients with your family's weekly shop, so a separate card for business purchases is strongly recommended.
It can. Most catering services are standard-rated for VAT at 20%, and turnover from ingredient-heavy, high-value events can approach the £90,000 VAT registration threshold faster than lower-turnover trades, so it's worth tracking your rolling 12-month turnover, separately from your MTD position.
Under the cash basis, which is the default for most sole traders, yes. A deposit is income on the date you receive it, not the date of the event, so a booking deposit taken months ahead of a wedding is reported in the quarter you were paid.
It's worth checking. A chef working exclusively and continuously for one household, under their control over hours and methods, risks being treated as employed rather than self-employed. Cooking for multiple households or events reduces this risk considerably.
Yes. Chef's whites and branded uniform, knives and kitchen equipment, hygiene certificates, and commercial kitchen or commissary rental are normally allowable business expenses, provided they're for the business rather than everyday personal use.