Quick answer
Only your self-employed tutoring income counts towards the MTD threshold. A teacher’s salary doesn’t. So a teacher earning £45,000 who tutors for £8,000 a year has qualifying income of £8,000, well under the threshold.
Key facts
Salary from a school or college doesn’t count
Private and online tutoring income does
Platform fees are an expense
Tutoring platforms report service providers to HMRC
Teachers who tutor on the side
MTD looks only at self-employment and property income. Employment income is excluded, so most teachers who tutor a few evenings a week are well below £20,000. See MTD with a job and a side business.
Full-time tutors
A full-time tutor doing 25 hours a week at £45 for 40 weeks turns over £45,000, which is over £30,000. The threshold applies to your total, across private clients, agencies that pay you as self-employed, and online platforms.
Start date | Qualifying income over | Based on your tax return for |
|---|---|---|
6 April 2026 | £50,000 | 2024/25 |
6 April 2027 | £30,000 | 2025/26 |
6 April 2028 | £20,000 | 2026/27 |
Online platforms
Platforms where you sell tutoring services must report your details and earnings to HMRC. The 30 sales and £1,700 exception only applies to sales of goods, not services.
Expenses
Platform and agency fees
Books and teaching resources
A share of home costs if you tutor from home
Travel to students’ homes
Use the MTD checker to see your own start date.