SimpleReturns

Company tax returns for craft sellers and makers

Reviewed by Lee Jones, Founder · Updated 17 July 2026
The short answer

If you make and sell things through a limited company, whether that is jewellery in a marketplace shop, ceramics at weekend fairs or custom pieces to commission, the filing job is the same as for every company in the country: a Company Tax Return to HMRC and a set of accounts to Companies House, even in a year you made a loss. Yours has its own shape: income from marketplace payouts, fair takings, commissions and sometimes teaching, costs that are mostly materials and making equipment, and one habit to unlearn: treating the things you make as your own. Once there is a company, the maker is you, but the business is it.

Official source. This guide is a plain-English summary of official GOV.UK guidance, not advice. The authoritative source is Company Tax Returns on gov.uk. Always rely on that over our summary.

What counts as your company's income?

Everything the company was paid for what you make and do. For most makers that is four streams:

  • Marketplace sales. Every sale, at the price the buyer paid. Payouts land with the platform's fees already off, so never use payout totals as your sales figure: take the sales total and the fees total from the marketplace's own statements and record both in full. Since the start of 2024, marketplaces have also had to send HMRC a yearly report of what their sellers earned, companies included. Our guide on company tax returns for online sellers walks through this trap with worked numbers.
  • Craft fair takings. Cash and card, every stall. At a hobby fair you could shrug off a tin of coins; a company cannot. Cash sales are income just like card sales, so count everything and keep a simple record on the day.
  • Custom commissions. The full price the customer paid for the piece.
  • Teaching. If you run workshops, the ticket money is company income too, in the same pot as the sales.

Your tax bill is then worked out on the profit, which HMRC calculates its own way rather than copying the accounts figure. Small companies pay 19% on profits up to £50,000, and bigger profits move towards 25%.

One thing to watch as you grow: if the company's taxable takings go over £90,000 across any rolling 12 months, not a calendar or accounting year, it has to register for VAT. The line is measured on what you sold, so gross marketplace sales plus every fair weekend count towards it. If you are anywhere near it, a quick word with an accountant is worth the money.

What can your company claim?

The rule behind every cost is simple: it has to be for the business. For a maker the usual list looks like this:

  • Materials, including the ones you waste. Clay, silver, fabric, yarn, timber, glaze, findings, ink. The failed batch counts too: a cracked glaze or a ruined seam was still bought to make things to sell, so it is still a business cost. Making waste is part of making. One honest wrinkle: pieces finished but not yet sold at your year end count as stock the company owns, not this year's expense, and we ask you for that figure in plain English.
  • Tools and equipment. A sewing machine, a kiln, a pottery wheel, a laser cutter, a printing press. Kit like this counts as equipment and machinery, and an allowance lets the company claim the full cost against its profit in the year you buy it, up to a very high yearly limit. That matters in the year you finally buy the kiln.
  • Marketplace fees. Listing fees, transaction fees, payment fees. They are real costs even though you never see them leave the bank, because they come off before the payout arrives.
  • Packaging and postage. Boxes, tissue, tape, labels and the trips to the post office counter.
  • Craft fair pitch fees. The stall or table fee for every fair you sell at.
  • Photography. Product shots for your listings, whether that is a photographer's invoice or a lightbox you bought.
  • The home workshop. If you regularly make at home under an agreed arrangement with the company, it can pay you £6 a week (£26 a month) towards extra household costs, no receipts needed. Anything bigger has stricter rules than people expect: read our guide on claiming for working from home first.

Keep the receipts and the marketplace statements; the claim is only as good as the paper behind it. For the full general list, see what expenses your company can claim.

The trap: the things you make belong to the company

Most craft companies started as a hobby, and when it was a hobby everything you made was yours: wear it, gift it, keep the best piece on the shelf. Once the company buys the materials and owns the kiln, the pieces that come out belong to the company, not to you. They are its stock.

So if you keep a necklace for yourself, or hand three mugs to family at Christmas, that is company property being used personally, and it is not a free expense: a company cost is either for the business, or taking it personally can create an extra tax charge on you. The fix is cheap: write down what you took and when, and ask an accountant how to record it. What sinks people is not the three mugs; it is the unrecorded habit.

Money in works the same way. Sales you made personally before the company existed are not the company's income; that old hobby money is a personal tax question for an accountant if you are unsure. But from the day the company starts trading, everything it sells goes through the books, cash tin included.

What does filing look like with us?

At year end your company has two deadlines to keep apart. The accounts go to Companies House within 9 months of your year end, and the Company Tax Return, the CT600, goes to HMRC within 12 months of it. A late return costs £200 from the very first day. HMRC's own free filing service has closed, so every company now files through commercial software.

SimpleReturns is built for businesses like yours. You upload the company bank statement and answer a few plain-English questions, no accounting words, and because payouts land with fees already off, we ask about your marketplace sales so the return shows true sales and true fees. You review every figure on one screen before anything is sent, then we file both returns: the tax return to HMRC and the accounts to Companies House. It is free to start, no card needed, and filing costs £99 flat for both.

Common questions

I only sell at a few fairs a year. Does the company still have to file?

Yes. If HMRC has sent the company a notice to file, the return is due even in a quiet year and even in a loss year. A small year changes the numbers, not the duty.

Can I claim the materials for pieces that went wrong?

Yes. Materials the company bought to make things to sell are a business cost even when the piece fails. Keep the purchase receipts as normal; you do not need to separate the successes from the cracked ones.

Can I keep or give away things I made?

Not as a freebie. Pieces made with company materials belong to the company, and taking one for yourself or as a personal gift can create an extra tax charge on you personally. Write down what you took and ask an accountant how to record it.

Do I need an accountant to file?

For a straightforward making-and-selling year, no; that is what we built SimpleReturns for. An accountant genuinely earns their fee if you regularly keep or gift your own stock, your takings are near the £90,000 VAT line, or you have old hobby income you are unsure about.

Want your craft company's return filed for you?

You upload the company bank statement and answer a few plain-English questions, no accounting words. We sort the marketplace-fee and materials figures, work out the profit and the Corporation Tax, and build both filings: the tax return for HMRC and the accounts for Companies House. You review every figure before anything is sent. Free to start, no card needed, and £99 flat covers both.

Start your return

And if you are near the VAT line or the family keeps "shopping" from your stock shelf, we will say so plainly so you can get an accountant for that one part.

General guidance, not advice. This guide explains how the rules generally work for small UK limited companies. It isn't tax advice for your specific situation, if you're unsure, check with us or an accountant.