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When we say nanny tax, we don’t just mean your tax return if you’re a self-employed nanny or childminder. As a parent or guardian, you also may have to think about HMRC when you approach someone to look after your children. As with most things tax, the devil is in the detail. So we’ve put together this blog to explain the tax implications of both working as a nanny, and of hiring a nanny to work for you.
As a self-employed nanny or childminder, you’ll be responsible for declaring your earnings to HMRC yourself. You do this via a tax return – a process where you submit your earnings and expenses over a 12 month period. The deadline to file and pay your nanny tax is 31st January, and you’ll be declaring your earnings from 6th April to 5th April the previous year.
The moment you file, you find out what you owe in tax – but you won’t be charged until 31st January. So file as early as you can! Here are the key dates and deadlines to keep in mind this tax year.
Key dates in the current 2025/26 tax year 👇
| Deadline | Date | Year |
| Tax year starts | 6th April | 2025 |
| Tax year ends | 5th April | 2026 |
| Register for self assessment | 5th October | 2026 |
| Pay tax bill by PAYE salary | 30th December | 2026 |
| Self assessment deadline | 31st January | 2027 |
This all depends on how much you earn. As a general rule, there are two taxes that you’re potentially liable to pay. Income tax and National Insurance.
The income tax rates in the 2025/26 tax year 👇
| Income | Tax rate | Tax band |
| Up to £12,570 | 0% | Personal allowance |
| £12,571 to £50,270 | 20% | Basic rate |
| £50,271 to £125,140 | 40% | Higher rate |
| over £125,141 | 45% | Additional rate |
National Insurance rates in the 2025/26 tax year 👇
| NI class | Who pays? | How much? |
| Class 1 | Employees earning over £12,570 | 8% on earnings between £242 and £967 per week
2% if you earn £967+ per week |
| Class 1A/1B | Employers | 15% |
| Class 3 | Voluntary contributions | £17.75 per week |
| Class 4 | Self-employed earning over £12,570 | 6% on profits between £12,570-£50,270
2% on profits over £50,270 |
To understand this, you need to know about the Personal Allowance. The Personal Allowance is the tax-free portion of your income. Everyone who earns less than £100,000 per year is entitled to the full Personal Allowance. When you earn less than this per year, you won’t pay Income Tax or National Insurance. But you may still need to file a tax return.
This is because HMRC still needs to be aware of what you’re earning, and from what activity. So the only time that you’re exempt from doing a tax return as a self-employed person (or as someone who childminds as a side hustle) is when you earn less than £1,000 per year.
As a parent or guardian, you will need to think about the employment status of your nanny. Are they your full-time/part-time employee? Or are they a self-employed minder that works for you alongside a slew of other jobs? Employment status is a really important thing to establish before you agree to work with a nanny because you could end up liable to pay nanny tax as an employer.
Here are some of the things you’d need to consider if you employ a nanny or childminder to work in your home:
To avoid unexpected nanny tax liabilities, establish your nanny’s employment status before hiring. Of course, these are two extremes and most cases will fall somewhere in between, but this is what you should initially think about 👇
Your nanny works with you as and when – say once every few weeks – and can accept or decline work as they please
Your nanny either works 40 hours a week full-time or 20 hours part-time, on a fixed-term basis. You decide when and how they work, and they request time off
Here’s what you need to do:
You’ll also need to get an employment contract for your nanny to sign before they start working for you. To read more about what you should do, head over to HMRC for their guidance on employing someone to work in your house.
Or see our Guides, Calculators or Taxopedia
