Wedding suppliers may need to check potential tax liabilities, says HMRC
Wedding suppliers who have turned their hobby into a money-making side hustle are being urged to check their tax obligations.
With the summer wedding season under way, people earning extra income from activities such as selling wedding stationery, filming the first dance or cake making are being reminded that they may need to register for self-assessment and declare their income to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).
If someone has earned more than the £1,000 trading allowance from their side hustle in a tax year, they may need to complete a self-assessment tax return.
The £1,000 threshold is a single allowance that covers side hustle income when combined – so someone earning smaller amounts which, when totalled up, are above this threshold could be liable.
Not all extra income is taxable though, for example HMRC said it would not usually expect people to tell it if they are having a wardrobe clear-out and selling unwanted personal belongings.
However, regularly selling goods for profit, or providing a service for payment, is likely to count as trading and may need to be declared, the revenue body said.
The tax year runs from April 6 to April 5 each year.
New entrants to self-assessment should register for the 2025-26 tax year by October 5 2026 and must file their online tax return and pay any tax due by January 31 2027, HMRC said.
It said an online tool on gov.uk can help people earning extra money to check if and when they need to report their additional income.
Kevin Hubbard, HMRC’s director of small business and individuals, said: “For many people, a side hustle is a valuable source of extra income.
“If you’re earning more than £1,000 a year from your side hustle it’s important to understand your tax responsibilities, and HMRC wants to make that as straightforward as possible.
“You can check if you need to do a self-assessment tax return by using the tool on gov.uk.
“It takes minutes to use, tells you exactly what you need to do and means no unexpected tax bills later.”
Lianna Dickson, 30, from Livingston, is currently on maternity leave from her role in influencer marketing and runs a successful wedding content creation business alongside family life as a new mother.
After getting married in 2024, Lianna realised she regretted not hiring a wedding content creator to capture behind-the-scenes moments from her own wedding day. With a background in social media and a dream of running her own business, she saw the opportunity to combine both and launched Captured By Fifteen.
She said: “I fell in love with all things weddings following my own and thought it was the perfect way to combine something I loved with the work experience I had.”
As a wedding content creator, she captures authentic, behind-the-scenes moments as they unfold on her phone, delivering raw footage and professionally edited highlight reels within 24 hours.
She added: “Couples can wake up and relive their full wedding the very next morning in the most authentic way.”
Her business took off quickly and within her first year she had shot almost 50 weddings. As bookings and income grew, she knew she needed to look into her tax obligations.
“As soon as I started booking in a number of weddings I knew this was going to be a decent amount of extra money. I read a lot of information on GOV.UK and HMRC’s website.
She added: "Once I realised my income was over the £1,000 trading allowance, I knew I’d need to complete a Self Assessment tax return. Everything online was super easy to understand.”