Tax on casual, part-time or temporary work

If you work part-time or on a casual or temporary basis you must pay Income Tax and National Insurance contributions if you earn more than £6,475 per annum. This applies whether you are employed or self-employed.

On this page:

If you work for an employer
If you work for yourself
Does how much you earn affect the tax you pay?
More useful links

If you work for an employer

If you're employed on a casual, temporary or part-time basis, by law your employer must:

deduct tax and National Insurance contributions from your wages
give you payslips
deduct student loan repayments, if relevant
give you form P45 when you leave
give you form P60 at the end of each tax year if you still work for the employer

What about cash in hand?

It's illegal for your employer to pay you cash in hand without deducting tax and National Insurance contributions from your wages.

If you accept money in this way, you risk losing your employment rights and the right to some benefits, such as:

maternity or paternity leave
sick pay
Jobseeker's Allowance

In addition you could end up having to pay the tax and National Insurance contributions yourself.

If you suspect your employer of not paying tax or National Insurance contributions on your wages you can report them in confidence using the Tax Evasion Hotline on Tel 0800 788 887.

Tax for the employed

PAYE forms: P45, P46, P60, P11D

Find out more about how to report tax fraud

Read about reporting tax fraud - on the Directgov website

If you work for more than one employer

If you work for more than one employer, you'll get a special tax code to take this into account.

Your tax allowances will normally be given against the pay from your main job. Your other job(s) will be taxed at the basic or higher rate, depending on your total income.

If you have more than one tax code

Employment rights

All employees have rights, whether they are full or part-time, casual or temporary, including:

holiday pay
National Minimum Wage
protection from discrimination

If you're concerned about your rights, you can ask a union for help or get free advice from your local Citizens Advice Bureau.

Check the facts about employment rights and find a union on the Trade Unions Congress workSMART website

Find your nearest Citizens Advice Bureau on the Citizens Advice Bureau website

If you're a student

If you're a student, you still pay tax on your income unless all of the following apply:

you're a full time student in the UK, only working in the holidays
you're returning to full time education after the holiday
your total income for the year is below the Personal Allowance

Ask your employer for form P38S Student Employees - and tax won't be deducted from your earnings. National Insurance will still be deducted if you earn more than £110 a week.

Find out more about tax for students

If you work for yourself

If you're self-employed on a temporary or part-time basis you must register with us as self-employed within three months of when you first start work. You'll have to complete a Self Assessment tax return and are responsible for paying your own tax and National Insurance contributions on the income you earn. Even if you don't think you'll earn enough to need to pay tax, you still need to complete a tax return.

Working for cash

You can accept cash payments for work you do, but it's illegal for you not to declare this on a tax return, and pay Income Tax and National Insurance contributions if these are due. This will depend on your overall taxable income in the tax year.

Tax for the self-employed

Information from Business Link on how to register as self-employed

Checking your employment status

It's important to understand the difference between being employed and self-employed, as this affects how you pay tax and National Insurance contributions. Read more in our related article.

Work out if you're employed or self-employed

Does how much you earn affect the tax you pay?

Everyone gets a personal tax-free allowance (£6,475 in 2009-10). You do not pay tax on anything you earn below this amount.

The National Insurance you pay also depends on your earnings. You do not pay any if you earn less than £110 a week.

Personal Allowance

Find out about National Insurance on the Directgov website