Every stream in one place
Ads, sponsorships, subscriptions, affiliates, tips and merch reconciled together.
Accountants for creators and influencers
We record your ad revenue, brand deals, free products, affiliate links, subscriptions and merch in one set of books, value gifted products for tax and claim back US withholding.
What you get
- Every place you get paid, in one set of books
- Free products you were sent, valued and recorded
- The US tax off your American views, claimed back
- Brand deal invoices sent out and chased
- Your tax return or company accounts included
- One fixed monthly fee, FreeAgent included
Key figures
Market valueWhat a gifted product is taxed on
Up to 30%The US takes this off American views
£1,000Trading allowance — gross, and gifts count
£90,000VAT threshold, reached fast once you sell product
2026/27 figures. See key tax dates and the calculators for the full picture.
Creator tax dates
Gifted items have to be logged as they arrive, because a reliable record cannot be put together later.
6 AprilNew tax year. Everything earned from here belongs to the next return.
As it arrivesGifted items logged at market value, with the obligation noted.
5 OctoberRegister for Self Assessment by this date after your first year over the trading allowance.
31 JanuaryReturn, balancing payment and first payment on account.
31 JulySecond payment on account.
April 2026 onwardsQuarterly MTD updates once qualifying income passes £50,000.
Source: gov.uk Self Assessment, trading allowance and Making Tax Digital guidance, checked July 2026.
Gifted products and other non-cash income
Creators are paid in pounds, dollars, gifted product, press trips, affiliate commission and platform credit. All of it can be taxable, and only some of it reaches a bank account.
If a brand sends £6,000 of product in return for coverage, HMRC treats it as £6,000 of income at market value, and the tax on it has to be paid in cash. It does not appear on your bank statement, so it has to be recorded as it arrives.
Creator income also arrives irregularly while the tax deadlines are fixed. A quarter with three brand deals and a quarter with none produce the same January bill, and the payment on account that follows is calculated on the good year.
What moves the numbers for a creator
These five areas decide most of a creator's tax, and each is easier to handle in advance.
- Gifted products and press trips
- If something arrived with an obligation attached — a post, a story, a mention, agreed formally or not — it is generally taxable at market value. A genuinely unsolicited gift with no strings usually is not. The deciding factor is the obligation, and in an HMRC enquiry the evidence that counts is a record made at the time.
- US withholding on platform earnings
- Google and Amazon must apply US withholding to the share of your earnings that comes from US viewers, and without valid tax information on file that can be up to 30%. A UK creator who completes the platform tax interview and claims the UK–US treaty normally brings withholding on those royalties down to nil. The platform tax interview takes about ten minutes.
- The £1,000 trading allowance, and what counts towards it
- If total trading income is under £1,000 in a tax year, you generally do not need to register or file. The allowance is measured on gross income before costs, and the market value of gifted goods counts towards it.
- VAT arrives sooner if you sell things
- The £90,000 registration threshold counts turnover before costs. A creator earning from ads and sponsorship takes a long time to reach it. A creator who starts shifting merch or selling through TikTok Shop can get there in a single good quarter, because every sale counts even though most of it is cost of goods.
- Payments on account, after the first good year
- The first strong year produces a tax bill and then, in the same January, the first payment on account of the next one — 150% of the tax in a single month. We tell you the figure a year ahead so you can set the money aside.
Tax on gifted products
A £40,000 year, £6,000 of which arrived as product
A sole trader creator: brand deals invoiced in cash, platform payouts, affiliate commission, and gifted items received in return for coverage, valued at what they retail for.
- Brand deals invoiced
- £22,000
- Platform payouts — ads, subscriptions, tips
- £9,500
- Affiliate commission
- £2,500
- Gifted product and press trips, at market value
- £6,000
- Total trading income
- £40,000
- Kit, software, props, home studio and travel
- −£7,400
- Taxable profit
- £32,600
- Income tax — 20% on £20,030 above the allowance
- £4,006
- Class 4 National Insurance — 6% on the same £20,030
- £1,202
- Tax and National Insurance due
- £5,208
About £1,560 of that bill is tax on the £6,000 of product, and it has to be paid from other income. Setting money aside against gifted value as it arrives covers it.
Worked through at 2026/27 rates from our own calculators, which follow gov.uk guidance checked in July 2026. This is an example and your figures will differ.
What we do for creators
A record of gifted items
Each item valued and logged as it arrives, with any obligation noted, so taxable gifts are separated from untaxed ones.
US withholding claimed back
The treaty paperwork completed so US withholding on your platform earnings is normally reduced to nil.
Brand deals invoiced and chased
Invoices sent to brands and agencies, with automatic reminders.
A set-aside percentage
Worked from your own figures and applied to gifted value too.
Sole trader or limited company
Modelled on what you need to draw.
Advisory and finance support for growing businesses
Business Pulse
An annual budget, a rolling 12-month cash flow forecast, management accounts and a review meeting every month or quarter. From £375 + VAT a month, on top of your accounts fee.
About Business PulseOutsourced finance team
Bookkeeping, payroll, VAT, customer invoicing and month-end, done for you in Xero. From £750 + VAT a month.
About the finance teamPart-time finance director
Peter Allen as your fractional finance director: an annual plan, a cash flow forecast, a KPI dashboard and a quarterly board meeting. From £2,000 + VAT a month.
About the finance director serviceFrequently asked questions
How much does it cost?
You get a fixed monthly figure in writing after a 30-minute call. For a creator business the drivers are how many income streams there are, whether any of them are in dollars, whether you sell physical product (which brings stock and VAT with it), and whether you are a sole trader or a company. Creators are priced on the same basis as every other client, and FreeAgent is included. Most creators start on our sole trader package and move up when the company makes sense.
I earn under £1,000 from content. Do I need to do anything?
Probably not. The £1,000 trading allowance means that if your total trading income for the tax year is under £1,000 you generally do not need to register or file. Two things to watch: it is gross income before costs, and the value of gifted products you received in return for content counts towards it. Once you go over, you register by 5 October after the end of that tax year.
Is a gifted product really taxable?
If it came with an obligation — a post, a story, a mention, anything agreed formally or informally — it is generally taxable at its market value, and that is true whether or not any money changed hands. A genuinely unsolicited gift with no strings usually is not. The line is drawn by the obligation rather than the value, and what decides an enquiry is whether you kept a record at the time.
Why is YouTube or Twitch taking US tax off my earnings?
US withholding applies to the share of your earnings that comes from US viewers. Without valid tax information on file the platform can withhold up to 30%. UK creators who complete the platform's tax interview and claim the UK–US treaty normally reduce withholding on those royalties to nil. The tax interview takes about ten minutes.
When should I set up a limited company?
Later than most people are told. Since the 2025 employer National Insurance rise and the higher dividend rates, a company is no longer a headline saving on money you take straight out — on full extraction it can be slightly worse. It earns its place for a different set of reasons: limited liability when you are signing brand contracts, profit left in the business at corporation tax rates, pension contributions, splitting income with a spouse who genuinely works in it, and being taken seriously by agencies. We model it on what you actually need to draw.
Does HMRC know about my platform income?
Assume yes. Since January 2024 digital platforms have had to collect seller and creator information and report it to HMRC — that covers the marketplaces, and it covers the platforms that pay creators. Declare all your platform income and claim your expenses in full.
Accreditations and partnerships
