How much to set aside for tax

There's no single percentage. It depends on your profit (earnings minus costs) and whether you have a job as well. With no other income and £25,000 profit, it's about £67.33 a week over 48 weeks (13% of profit). Choose "A week" below, enter a typical week and the calculator shows your own weekly figure.

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What the apps paid you

Include tips, boosts and incentives. These are example figures; change them to yours.

Deliveroo
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hrs
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Your driving

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Personal use of the vehicle
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Once you use a method for a vehicle, you usually have to keep it.
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Weekly amounts by profit

Income Tax and Class 4 National Insurance for 2026/27 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, spread over 48 working weeks. Profit is after your expenses or mileage claim.

Yearly profitNo other income: a week% of profitWith a £25,000 job: a week% of profit
£10,000£0.000%£41.6720%
£15,000£13.164%£65.5421%
£20,000£40.2510%£92.6222%
£25,000£67.3313%£119.7023%
£30,000£94.4115%£166.5027%
£40,000£148.5818%£262.3331%
£50,000£202.7519%£358.1634%

With no other income, the first £12,570 of profit is tax-free. A job uses that allowance up, so every pound of delivery profit is taxed: see job plus delivery driving. Scotland has different Income Tax bands; the calculator handles them.

Your first January

If your Self Assessment bill is £1,000 or more, HMRC usually asks for payments on account: two advance payments towards next year, each half of this year's bill, due 31 January and 31 July. In the first year that means paying about 150% of the bill in January. The calculator shows this figure under "Your January bill".

Making it easy

Common questions

Is 20% enough to set aside?

It depends. With no other income, 20% of profit is more than you'll owe up to about £50,000. With a job that uses your Personal Allowance, you'll owe about 20% of profit plus up to 6% National Insurance, so 20% can fall short.

Should I set aside a percentage of earnings or profit?

Profit is what you're taxed on: earnings minus your expenses or mileage claim. A percentage of earnings can be far off for high-mileage drivers whose costs are large.

Why is my first tax bill so big?

If the bill is £1,000 or more, HMRC usually adds a payment on account: half of this year's bill again, paid in advance towards next year. So the first January can be about one and a half times the bill.

Can I pay through my tax code instead?

If you have a job and owe less than £3,000, HMRC can collect it through your tax code, as long as you file online by 30 December. Class 2 National Insurance can't be collected this way.

Rates checked against GOV.UK on 31 October 2026. See how the calculator works.