A gifted-items log that holds up
Brand, item, market value and what you agreed to do, recorded as it arrives rather than reconstructed.
Influencers
Free products are still income
Brand deals, gifted collaborations, affiliate links and platform bonuses. We keep it claimed, recorded and calm — including the half of it that never arrives as money.
What you get
- Free products you were sent, valued and recorded
- Brand deal invoices sent out and chased
- Affiliate and bonus money picked up too
- The £1,000 allowance or your real costs, whichever is bigger
- Your tax return prepared and filed
- One fixed monthly fee, FreeAgent included
The numbers that decide it
Four figures worth knowing by heart
Four numbers decide an influencer year, and the first is the one people get wrong.
Market valueWhat gifted product is taxed on
The obligationWhat decides whether it was a gift at all
£1,000Trading allowance, or your real costs — not both
Jan 2024Platforms began reporting creator data to HMRC
2026/27 figures. See key tax dates and the calculators for the full picture.
Your year
Five dates and one habit
The second line is not a deadline and it is the only thing here that cannot be reconstructed after the fact.
6 AprilNew tax year. Everything earned from here belongs to the next return.
As each parcel arrivesLog the item, the brand, the market value and what you agreed to do. This is the one that cannot be done later.
Each monthAffiliate and bonus payments reconciled from every network.
5 OctoberRegister for Self Assessment after your first year over the trading allowance.
31 JanuaryReturn, balancing payment and first payment on account.
31 JulySecond payment on account.
Source: gov.uk Self Assessment, trading allowance and VAT guidance, checked July 2026. Rates are 2026/27 from this site's own calculators.
What nobody briefs you on
Half your income does not arrive as money
Gifted products, press trips, hotel stays and clothing sent in return for coverage can all be taxable at market value. A genuine no-strings freebie is not. Knowing which is which, and being able to show your working, is the difference between a tidy return and a long letter.
The deciding factor is the obligation rather than the value. If something arrived because you agreed to post, mention or wear it — formally or by understanding — it is income at what it retails for. If a brand simply sent it and you owed them nothing, generally it is not.
The part that catches people is the timing. That judgement has to be made and written down when the parcel arrives, because reconstructing it eighteen months later from a camera roll is not evidence, and it is the only part of this that cannot be fixed retrospectively.
The detail that decides it
What actually moves the numbers for an influencer
Four things, and the first one is the reason this page exists.
- Gifted, and whether it was really a gift
- Product received in return for coverage is taxable at market value. Genuinely unsolicited product with no obligation is not. Log it as it arrives with the brand, the item, what it retails for and what you agreed to do. That record is worth more than any argument made afterwards.
- The trading allowance or your expenses, not both
- You may deduct the £1,000 trading allowance instead of your actual costs, or your actual costs instead of the allowance. For anyone buying props, paying for editing software or travelling to shoots, the real expenses are usually worth considerably more — but it has to be a choice made deliberately.
- Affiliate and bonus income is easy to miss
- Commission from affiliate networks, creator-fund and bonus payments, and platform tips all count. They arrive in small amounts from several places and are the most commonly under-declared line on an influencer return.
- Follower count is irrelevant to HMRC
- Income is what matters. The reporting rules apply identically at three thousand followers and three million, and since January 2024 platforms have been required to report creator and seller data to HMRC.
The choice worth making deliberately
Trading allowance or actual expenses
A £14,000 year, and the two ways to work out the profit
Total income of £14,000 including gifted value. You can deduct the £1,000 trading allowance, or your real costs. You cannot do both, and you should pick the bigger one.
- Total income, cash and gifted at market value
- £14,000
- Option A — deduct the £1,000 trading allowance
- taxable £13,000
- Option B — deduct actual allowable costs of £3,900
- taxable £10,100
- Difference in taxable profit
- £2,900
- Worth getting right, at 20% tax plus 6% National Insurance
- £754
Actual expenses win for almost anyone buying props, paying for software or travelling to shoots. The allowance wins where costs are genuinely negligible. The only bad outcome is not noticing there was a choice.
Source: gov.uk Self Assessment, trading allowance and VAT guidance, checked July 2026. Rates are 2026/27 from this site's own calculators.
What we do about it
Influencer income, done right
Brand deals invoiced and chased
Professional paperwork brands and agencies take seriously, chased automatically.
Affiliate and bonus income captured
The small payments from several places, reconciled rather than forgotten.
The allowance-or-expenses choice
Worked both ways on your own numbers so you take the bigger deduction.
Self Assessment included
Every stream on one clean return, finished early.
Agency-ready numbers
Clean books for when a management deal or a bigger contract arrives.
Questions
What creators ask us
Do influencers pay tax on gifted items?
If a product, trip or stay is received in return for content — under any agreement, formal or informal — it is generally taxable at market value. Genuinely unsolicited gifts with no obligation usually are not. We help you draw the line correctly and keep the evidence at the time.
I only have a few thousand followers. Do the rules still apply?
Follower count is irrelevant to HMRC — income is what matters. Once total trading income passes £1,000 in a tax year the reporting rules apply whether you have 3,000 followers or 3 million.
Does HMRC really know about my platform income?
Increasingly, yes. Since January 2024 digital platforms have been required to collect seller and creator information and report it to HMRC. Declared income with properly claimed expenses is now the cheapest position to be in.
Can I claim clothes I bought for a shoot?
Generally not. Everyday clothing is not allowable even where it is the subject of the content. Costumes and genuine props that have no everyday use are a different matter, and equipment, software and travel to a shoot are straightforwardly claimable.
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