Full-time bloggers
Ad networks and sponsorships paying the mortgage.
Accountant for bloggers
Display ad revenue, sponsored posts, affiliate links, press trips and digital products — one set of books, one fixed fee, no jargon.
- ICAEW/ACCA regulated
- Chartered Accountants
- Fixed monthly fees
- MTD-ready
- 4.9 on Google
Part of our guide to accountant for content creators UK.
Quick answer
Blogging becomes a trade once you publish with a view to profit, and ad revenue, sponsored posts, affiliate commission, press trips and product sales are all taxable. Hosting, themes, writers, photography, software and the business share of your home office are deductible.
On this page
Contents
Who this is for
Is this you?
Niche site owners
Running several sites monetised by ads and affiliates.
Travel and food bloggers
Press trips, hosted stays and gifted meals.
Bloggers selling products
Ebooks, courses, templates and memberships.
Bloggers with writers
Paying freelancers or VAs for content.
Site flippers
Buying and selling websites as assets.
Income streams
Everything we handle for you
- Display ad networks (Mediavine, Raptive, AdSense)
- Sponsored posts and paid placements
- Affiliate commission
- Link insertions and paid guest posts
- Digital products, ebooks and courses
- Memberships and paid newsletters
- Press trips, hosted stays and gifted stays
- Consulting and speaking work
- Site sales and domain disposals
- Overseas ad and affiliate payments in USD
Sound familiar?
Problems you face, answered
Record the sterling value on the date the payment lands under cash basis, and claim the conversion fee. The two-month lag matters at the tax year end, so we agree the basis that puts income in the right year for you.
A hosted trip given in return for coverage is payment in kind and has a taxable value, usually what the brand would have charged. Much of the related travel is then a business cost, so the net position is often small — but it has to be shown, not ignored.
We consolidate network statements monthly so the annual figure reconciles to your bank without hunting. It also catches unpaid or clawed-back commission, which is easy to miss when it happens two months later.
That is advertising income, taxable in full, and it counts towards the VAT threshold like any other service. Keep the emails as evidence of what was sold, because these deals rarely have invoices.
Those are allowable costs where they are genuinely for the business. Check whether anyone regular is actually an employee rather than a freelancer — it affects payroll, and it is far cheaper to get right at the start.
Only if the trip was made for the business. A holiday you happened to blog about is personal; a trip planned, scheduled and taken to produce specific content is deductible, and mixed trips are apportioned. Keep the content plan as evidence.
That can be a capital disposal rather than trading income, with different rates and reliefs. It depends how the site was held and how often you do it. Tell us before you complete — the structure is far easier to fix in advance.
A loss-making year is not wasted: trading losses can be set against other income or carried forward. We also revisit your payments on account so HMRC is not holding money based on a better year.
No, it is trading income, but the VAT position differs. Digital products sold to consumers in other countries have their own rules, so we check that before you scale a course launch.
How we help
The work we do for you
Self Assessment tax returns
Ad, affiliate and sponsorship income reconciled and filed on time.
Learn moreLimited company accounts
Useful for portfolios of sites with retained profit.
Learn moreVAT for creators
Ad and sponsorship revenue counts towards the threshold.
Learn moreAccountants for freelancers
Writing for clients as well? Our freelancer hub covers that side.
Learn moreTax explained
How accountant for bloggers works
A blog is a trade once you publish regularly with a view to profit. From that point, ad revenue, sponsored posts, affiliate commission, product sales and the value of hosted trips are all trading income, whether the money arrives from a UK network or an American one.
Claim the costs of running the site: hosting, domains, themes and plugins, email platform, SEO and analytics tools, stock images and photography, freelance writers and editors, design work, and the business proportion of your home office and broadband.
Equipment such as a laptop, camera or phone is claimed at the business proportion. Where the split is genuinely mixed, pick a defensible percentage and apply it consistently rather than changing it each year.
Sole trader profits are taxed at Income Tax rates with Class 4 National Insurance on top. Blog income can swing hard with algorithm changes, so we base payments on account on reality rather than last year’s peak.
Press trips and gifted stays deserve care. The taxable value is what you received, and the genuine business travel around it is deductible. Document what was agreed, what coverage you produced and which parts of the trip were personal.
Records are easy if you separate the bank account: one business account, monthly network statements downloaded, a simple invoice for every sponsored post and link insertion, and receipts stored by month. That takes minutes a week and removes the year-end panic entirely.
Finally, think about the asset you are building. A site with steady ad revenue has resale value, and how you own it changes what happens when you sell. We look at that alongside the annual tax so a future exit is not accidentally expensive.
Source: Income Tax rates and allowances (gov.uk) · Self Assessment (gov.uk)
Worked example: a £58,000 blogging year
- Display ad revenue
- £28,000
- Sponsored posts and link insertions
- £14,000
- Affiliate commission
- £11,000
- Digital products
- £5,000
- Total income
- £58,000
- Freelance writers and VA
- £9,000
- Hosting, tools and email platform
- £3,200
- Photography, travel and research
- £4,000
- Home office share, accountancy and insurance
- £2,800
- Taxable profit
- £39,000
- Income Tax at 20% on £26,430
- £5,286
- Class 4 NIC at 6% on £26,430
- £1,586
Illustrative example, not a client result. Illustrative only, using 2026/27 figures from our tax config. General information, not personal advice.
General information only, based on 2026/27 UK rules. Not personal advice. Speak to us about your circumstances.
Expenses
Blogger expenses: hosting, writers and press trips
Allowable expenses for bloggers UK include hosting, themes, freelance writers and the business share of home running costs, all deductible against ad, affiliate and sponsorship income. Holidays you simply wrote about afterwards don't count — only travel planned and taken to produce specific content does. Multi-site bloggers often find the line between a Self Assessment filing and a limited company structure worth revisiting as writer costs grow.
Usually claimable
- Hosting, domains, themes and plugins
- SEO, analytics and email marketing tools
- Freelance writers, editors and VAs
- Stock images, photography and design
- Laptop, camera and phone (business share)
- Business travel for planned content
- Business share of home office and broadband
- Accountancy, insurance and legal review
- Courses and conferences related to the trade
- Payment processing and currency conversion fees
Usually not claimable
- Holidays you happened to write about
- Everyday clothing for photos
- Meals while working from home
- Entertaining brand or network contacts
- Personal share of household bills
- Fines and penalties
Track hosting, writer invoices and press-trip costs as they land using the creator expenses checklist, before a busy launch month buries the detail.
How HMRC’s rules apply to bloggers
If you are self-employed
Self-employed costs must be incurred wholly and exclusively for your trade. If you use the £1,000 trading allowance, you cannot also deduct actual expenses against that same income. Equipment treatment depends on cash basis or traditional accounting.
If you run a limited company
A limited company deducts costs incurred wholly and exclusively for its business. Equipment may need capital allowances rather than an immediate expense deduction. Personal use or company-paid private costs can create a taxable benefit or director’s loan entry; company ownership is not a blanket deduction.
For separable mixed-use costs, such as a phone bill, claim only the identifiable business proportion and keep evidence. This does not make ordinary clothing or every dual-purpose purchase deductible. A receipt alone does not prove a business purpose: retain the brief, invoice or usage record too.
Costs to review for your work
- Writing software, website hosting and newsletter platform fees
- Research material bought for commissioned work
- The evidenced business share of a laptop and home office
Everyday clothing, ordinary grooming, personal meals, private gaming and fines are generally not deductible. Qualifying costumes or protective clothing and business-travel subsistence have different rules. Client entertaining is generally disallowed. Receiving a product from a brand does not automatically create an expense: record the income treatment separately and deduct only an allowable business cost.
HMRC: self-employed expensesHMRC: business travelHMRC: clothingHMRC: company deductionsHMRC: capital allowancesHMRC: creator income and gifts
Keep records alongside our creator expenses checklist, or discuss your costs with our bookkeeping team.
General UK guidance, not personal advice. The deduction depends on your facts and accounting basis.
General information only, based on 2026/27 UK rules. Not personal advice. Speak to us about your circumstances.
Structure
Sole trader or limited company?
Single-site bloggers usually stay sole traders while profits are modest and variable. A limited company starts to make sense when you hold several sites, employ writers, retain profit to reinvest, or want the site portfolio owned separately from you personally ahead of a possible sale.
£
Sole trader£46,111
Limited company£46,091
Illustrative estimate only. Uses the published 2026/27 tax configuration. Assumes a single-director company drawing all profit, with no Employment Allowance. Excludes expenses, student loans, pensions, other income, Scottish rates and individual circumstances. Not tax advice.
VAT & MTD
VAT and Making Tax Digital
VAT
Advertising, sponsorship and link income are standard-rated services and count towards the VAT registration threshold. Affiliate commission usually does too. Digital product sales to overseas consumers follow their own place-of-supply rules, which we check before a launch rather than after.
Registration threshold: £90,000 · Deregistration: £88,000
Making Tax Digital
Qualifying income for Making Tax Digital is gross trading income before writer costs and platform fees, so a high-turnover, lower-margin blog can be in scope sooner than the profit suggests. Check the April 2026 and 2027 thresholds against gross figures.
- April 2026: qualifying income above £50,000
- April 2027: qualifying income above £30,000
- April 2028: qualifying income above £20,000
General information only, based on 2026/27 UK rules. Not personal advice. Speak to us about your circumstances.
Diary
Key deadlines
5 October
Register for Self Assessment for the previous tax year
31 October
Paper tax return deadline
31 January
Online return, balancing payment and first payment on account
31 July
Second payment on account
Monthly accounting packages
Accountant packages for bloggers
Self-employed or limited company, choose the support that fits how you trade. We review income such as Display ad networks (Mediavine, Raptive, AdSense), Sponsored posts and paid placements, Affiliate commission as part of agreeing your scope.
Self-employed accountant packages for bloggers
Trading in your own name? Choose support for your personal tax return and, where included, bookkeeping and MTD Income Tax updates.
Up to £25,000: Starter £299, Complete £475 a year. £25,000–£50,000: Starter £499, Complete £599 a year. Above £50,000, fees use the upper limit of your band: Starter 1%, Complete 0.75% (minimum £39.99 + VAT a month). Monthly payments are the annual fee divided by 12, excluding VAT. Starter does not include bookkeeping. Turnover above £1 million is quoted individually.
Self Employed Starter
Turnover: Up to £25,000
For sole trader creators who just need their tax return done properly
£24.92
per month + VAT
£299.00 per year + VAT · Bookkeeping not included
- Your annual Self Assessment tax return, prepared and filed
- All your creator income streams covered: AdSense, brand deals, affiliates, tips and subscriptions
- Gifted products, PR trips and freebies declared correctly
- Allowable expense review so you claim everything you are entitled to
- Deadline reminders ahead of every filing and payment date
- Free basic tax advice by email through the year*
Self Employed Complete
Turnover: Up to £25,000
For full-time self-employed creators who want their books kept for them
£39.58
per month + VAT
£475.00 per year + VAT · Bookkeeping included
- Everything in Self Employed Starter
- Monthly bookkeeping across YouTube, TikTok, brand deal and affiliate income
- Making Tax Digital for Income Tax quarterly updates, where required
- Payment on account planning so January never surprises you
- Sole trader vs limited company review as your income grows
- Quarterly check-in on your numbers and tax position
Limited company accountant packages for bloggers
Trading through a company? Choose support for company accounts, Corporation Tax and the director services included below.
Essential/Compliance
For creators who have just set up a limited company
From £45.83
per month + VAT
- Year-end company accounts for your creator business
- Corporation Tax return (CT600) and tax computation
- Confirmation statement preparation and filing support (excludes the Companies House filing fee)
- One director Self Assessment return (salary and dividends from the same company)
- Deadline reminders ahead of every filing date
- Free basic tax advice by email through the year*
Core/Complete
For full-time creators with brand deals and platform income
From £62.50
per month + VAT
- Everything in Essential/Compliance
- Monthly bookkeeping across YouTube, TikTok, brand deal and affiliate income
- Quarterly Making Tax Digital VAT returns
- Director payroll with RTI filing and pension submissions
- Quarterly review call on your numbers and tax position
- Gifted items, overseas payouts and payment platform reconciliation
Growth
For creator businesses with editors, managers or a team
From £75.00
per month + VAT
- Everything in Core/Complete
- Payroll for up to five team members, such as editors or assistants
Starting fees exclude VAT. Your turnover, records and agreed work determine the final quote. *Basic tax advice is free; technical work is quoted separately. MTD support applies where required.
See all fees and one-off servicesWant this off your plate?
Talk through your platform income, allowable expenses and next steps with a creator accountant.
Book your free creator tax callWritten and reviewed by
Waqas Sagar ACA FCCA FMAAT
Chartered Accountant with 18+ years' experience and founder of Accotax. Has served over 5,000 clients across London and the UK.
About Waqas SagarAccotax on LinkedIn Last reviewed: 2026-09-21
FAQs
Frequently asked questions
Yes. Ad revenue, sponsored posts, affiliate commission and product sales are trading income.
Yes, on the value received where coverage is expected. The genuine business travel is deductible against it.
Yes, at the business proportion, applied consistently each year.
Gross, with network and conversion fees claimed as costs.
Record the sterling value on the date received and claim conversion fees.
Yes, they are advertising services and count towards the registration threshold.
Losses can be relieved against other income or carried forward. We also reduce payments on account.
It depends how it was held and how frequently you trade sites. Speak to us before completing.
Yes, where the work is real and the pay is commercial. Payroll rules may apply.
Often once profit is steady and in higher rate, or when several sites are held together.
Around 25–30% of profit is a reasonable start until we forecast properly.
A fixed monthly fee agreed before we start, covering filings, bookkeeping support and questions.
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