February 26th, 2015
My child’s a 10 year old actor. They don’t need to pay tax, do they?
There’s a common misconception that children don’t need to hand over any of their earned income from acting/modelling/voiceovers to the taxman. Unfortunately that’s not the case.
Regardless of age we all have to pay tax on earned income. We do all have a personal allowance though so if your income is below this amount (£10,000 for 2014/15) then there’s no tax due.
Age is relevant when looking at whether there’s an obligation to notify HMRC of a liability to pay Class 2 National Insurance as this is only payable over the age of 16.
So, from a practical point of view, if your child is less than 16, is earning income from acting but it is less than £10,000 your only obligation is to keep records to show this (ie bank statements and corresponding contracts and payslips should suffice). You also need to keep receipts for any expenses that are incurred in connection with the income (e.g. travel, agents fees, research materials etc)
And, if your child is earning more than £10,000, then they will need to notify HMRC and complete a tax return.
If you’d like any help with getting your child properly set up with HMRC then just call me on 0151 426 4512. I deal with lots of parents of child actors…and in some cases where the children are now grown up.
