SimpleReturns

Company tax returns for dog groomers and pet services

Reviewed by Lee Jones, Founder · Updated 16 July 2026
The short answer

If you run your grooming, dog-walking, pet-sitting or boarding business through a limited company, the filing job is the same as for every other company: a Company Tax Return to HMRC and a set of accounts to Companies House, due even in a year you made a loss. Your version has two quirks. A lot of your money arrives as cash or app payouts, and every penny of it is still the company's income. And your biggest cost questions are your kit and, if you groom from a van, the van. The trap that catches this trade the most is simple: cash that never touches the company bank account is still company income, and taking it for yourself is a separate question with its own rules.

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 looking after animals. For a pet business that usually means:

  • Grooming fees, the wash, cut, nails and full groom, whether the money came as cash, on a card machine, or through a booking app.
  • Dog walking and pet sitting, single visits, regular weekly slots, and holiday cover.
  • Boarding and day care, per-night or per-day fees for dogs staying with you.
  • Add-ons and tips, a nail trim on top, a bag of treats you sell, or a tip a happy owner leaves through the app.

One thing to get right when you take bookings through an app: your income is the full amount the owner was charged, not just the smaller sum that lands in the account after the app takes its cut. Your turnover is that full fee, and the app's cut is a separate cost the company claims. The app's statement shows both sides, which is why you keep it.

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

One side note while we are on money coming in: if the company's takings go over £90,000 across any rolling 12-month period (not just your accounting year), it has to register for VAT. That is a separate job from the tax return, but boarding and day-care income adds up faster than you think, so keep an eye on the running total.

What can your company claim?

The test for every cost is the same: was it spent purely for the business? For a pet business, the usual claims are:

  • Grooming equipment. Clippers, blades, a grooming table, a bath or tub, a dryer, cages and the fit-out of a grooming van. Bigger kit like this can normally be claimed in full in the year you buy it. Our guide on claiming equipment goes deeper.
  • Consumables. Shampoo and conditioner, spare blades, towels, poo bags, treats you give out, cleaning products. You buy them constantly and they are all costs of the work, so keep the receipts even for the small ones.
  • A grooming van. If the company buys a van to work from, it can usually claim the whole purchase cost against profit in year one, and the van's fuel, repairs and servicing for the work are company costs too. A company van used only for the pet work, with nothing more than the odd insignificant personal detour, does not create extra personal tax for you. If instead the company runs a car rather than a van, private use of a company car, including your commute, is taxed as a perk, and that sum depends on the exact car, so it is one for an accountant.
  • Premises and bills. If the company rents a salon or a unit, the rent and the heat, light and water for it are running costs of the trade.
  • Licensing. Your council makes a boarding or day-care business hold a licence to look after animals, and the yearly renewal to keep trading is a running cost the company claims. A large one-off cost, or the first licence to set up a brand-new activity, can count as a lasting investment rather than an everyday running cost, and those are treated a different way, so let an accountant place it.
  • Insurance. Public liability cover, cover for the animals in your care, and cover for the kit and the van are all business costs.

The trap in this trade: cash that never reaches the company account

Walkers and sitters get handed cash at the door all the time, and it is easy to slip a few notes in your pocket and think of it as separate from the business. It is not. If the company did the work, that money is the company's income and has to go on the return, whether it ever touched the company bank account or not. Leaving it out is not a shortcut, it is an understated return.

Then there is the second half of it: what happens when you keep that cash for yourself. The company's money is not automatically your money. There are only three proper ways it comes out: a salary through payroll, dividends paid out of profits with the right records, and anything else counts as a director's loan the company has to record, with its own tax rules. Running a salary through payroll means operating PAYE to collect the Income Tax and National Insurance, which is a separate job from this tax return and needs its own payroll software or an accountant. So pocketing the cash does not make it vanish, it becomes money you have taken from the company, and that is the part that needs handling correctly. Our guide to the director's loan account explains that side.

The clean fix is boring and cheap: bank the cash into the company account and pay yourself out of it properly. Then the takings are recorded, the return is easy, and there is no tangle to unpick.

What does filing look like with us?

At year end your company owes HMRC a Company Tax Return and Companies House a set of accounts, twelve months after the period ends at the latest, and 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, add any cash takings, and answer a few plain-English questions with no accounting words. You review every figure before anything is sent, then we file both returns. It is free to start, no card needed, and filing costs £99 flat for both.

Common questions

Is cash paid at the door still company income?

Yes. If the company did the work, that money is the company's income and has to go on the return, whether it ever touched the company bank account or not. Leaving it out is not a shortcut, it is an understated return.

Is my income the full fee or the amount after the app's cut?

Your income is the full amount the owner was charged, not just the smaller sum that lands in the account after a booking app takes its cut. The app's cut is a separate cost the company claims, and the app's statement shows both sides.

Can I claim my grooming kit and van?

Bigger kit like clippers, a grooming table, a dryer and the fit-out of a grooming van can normally be claimed in full in the year you buy it. If the company buys a van to work from, it can usually claim the whole purchase cost against profit in year one, and the van's running costs for the work are company costs too.

Can I claim my animal-activities licence?

The yearly renewal to keep trading is a running cost the company claims. A large one-off cost, or the first licence to set up a brand-new activity, can count as a lasting investment treated a different way, so let an accountant place it.

Want your pet business's return filed for you?

You upload the company bank statement, add any cash takings, and answer a few plain-English questions with no accounting words. We sort the fees, kit and van costs, 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 have a company vehicle you also use privately, or a big one-off licence to set up something new, we will flag that those parts are an accountant's call rather than pretend the software settles them for you.

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.