Wedding Planner Tax UK 2026/27: Supplier Deposits, VAT and Your Real Take-Home
Self-employed wedding planners handle client deposits, supplier payments and commission arrangements that need careful tax treatment. Full worked example on £38,000 turnover and how to handle money that passes through your accounts.
The core tax challenge: whose money is it?
Wedding planning has an unusual accounting feature that trips up many newly self-employed planners: significant sums of money often flow through a planner's bank account that aren't actually their income — client deposits collected to pay caterers, venues, florists and other suppliers on the client's behalf. Getting this distinction right from day one is the single most important tax habit for a wedding planner to build, because conflating pass-through client money with genuine income can massively overstate turnover, create unnecessary VAT registration triggers, and confuse the tax bill entirely.
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Open Self-Employed Tax calculatorWorked example: separating income from pass-through money
Scenario: a wedding planner coordinates a £28,000 wedding for a client. Breakdown:
- Venue, catering, florist, photographer costs (paid by planner to suppliers using client's money): £24,000
- Planner's own coordination fee, charged to the client: £3,500
- Commission received from the photographer for the referral (not disclosed as a separate line to the client, but standard industry practice, ethically disclosed per the planner's terms): £500
What's actually the planner's taxable income from this wedding: £3,500 + £500 = £4,000
The £24,000 that passed through the planner's account to pay suppliers is not the planner's income — it's client money, administered on the client's behalf, and shouldn't appear in the planner's turnover figures at all (though good bookkeeping should still clearly record it as client funds handled, distinct from trading income).
Worked example: full-year genuine income, £38,000
Genuine income across a year of weddings (fees + markups + commissions): £38,000
Deductible expenses:
- Marketing (website, wedding fair stalls, social media advertising): £1,800
- Travel to venues and supplier meetings (mileage): £900
- Software (planning tools, invoicing, CRM): £600
- Professional indemnity insurance: £250
- Membership of a wedding planning professional body: £150
- Phone and admin: £300
- Total expenses: £4,000
Taxable profit: £38,000 − £4,000 = £34,000
Income tax: (£34,000 − £12,570) × 20% = £21,430 × 20% = £4,286
Class 4 NI: (£34,000 − £12,570) × 6% = £21,430 × 6% = £1,286
Total tax and NI: £5,572
Take-home: £38,000 − £4,000 − £5,572 = £28,428
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Open Take-Home Pay calculatorCommission from suppliers: a common blind spot
Many wedding planners have informal (or formal) arrangements with preferred suppliers — caterers, photographers, venues — who pay a referral fee or commission when the planner brings them business. This commission is taxable income to the planner, and needs to be declared, whether it's paid as a direct cash payment, a discount the planner receives personally (rather than passing to the client), or a credit note against future bookings. Some planners choose instead to pass supplier discounts back to the client as a value-add to their service — in that case, the discount reduces the client's cost and isn't the planner's income — but the planner needs to be consistent and clear about which model they operate, both for their own tax accuracy and for professional transparency with clients.
VAT: based on genuine turnover, not total money handled
Because significant sums of client money can pass through a busy wedding planner's accounts for supplier payments, it's essential to track genuine turnover (fees, markups, commission) separately from total money handled when assessing the £90,000 VAT registration threshold. A planner coordinating £400,000 worth of weddings a year in total supplier spend, but earning only £45,000 in genuine fees and commission, is nowhere near the VAT threshold — but sloppy bookkeeping that conflates the two figures could create a mistaken belief that VAT registration is required when it isn't.
Deductible expenses checklist for wedding planners
- Marketing: website, wedding fair stalls/exhibitor fees, social media advertising, styled shoots
- Travel to venue visits and supplier meetings
- Planning/CRM software and invoicing tools
- Professional indemnity insurance
- Professional body membership (e.g. UK Alliance of Wedding Planners)
- Phone and admin costs
- Sample materials/mood board supplies used for client presentations
Filing and paying
Register for Self Assessment once genuine income exceeds £1,000, keep clear, separate records distinguishing client/supplier pass-through money from your own trading income, and file online by 31 January following the tax year end, paying any income tax and Class 4 NI owed on your genuine profit.
self-employed-tax-ukFrequently asked questions
Is money I collect from clients to pay suppliers (caterers, florists) taxable income for me?
Generally no, if you're acting purely as an agent passing the client's money through to the supplier without markup — this is client money, not your income, and shouldn't be included in your turnover. However, if you mark up supplier costs (charging the client more than you pay the supplier) or receive commission from suppliers, that markup/commission IS your taxable income, even though it relates to money that also passed through your hands for the supplier's benefit.
Do wedding planners need to register as self-employed?
Yes, once your own genuine income (planning fees, markups, commissions) exceeds £1,000 a year — not the total value of weddings you coordinate, which includes pass-through client/supplier money that isn't your income.
Can I claim commission received from suppliers as taxable income, or is it a discount to the client?
Commission or referral fees you receive from suppliers (caterers, venues, photographers) for recommending them to clients is taxable income to you, and should be declared — regardless of whether you also disclose it to the client as part of your professional/ethical practice. Some planners pass commission back to clients as a discount instead of keeping it; in that case it wouldn't be your income, but you need to be clear and consistent about which model you're using.
How much tax does a wedding planner pay on £38,000 turnover?
This depends heavily on what counts as your actual income versus pass-through client money. If your genuine income (fees plus any markup/commission) is £38,000, after typical expenses of £6,000-£8,000, taxable profit is roughly £30,000-£32,000, with combined income tax and Class 4 NI of approximately £5,000-£5,500.
Should a wedding planner register for VAT?
Only once your genuine turnover (your fees and any markup/commission, not pass-through client money for suppliers) exceeds £90,000 in a rolling 12-month period. Given weddings often involve large sums of client money flowing through a planner's accounts for suppliers, it's important to track genuine turnover (your income) separately from total money handled, to correctly assess VAT registration requirements.
Do wedding planners need client money protection or a separate client account?
There's no specific legal requirement unique to wedding planning (unlike, for example, solicitors or estate agents handling client money), but many professional planners voluntarily use a separate client account to hold supplier payment money, both for good financial practice and to make clear that this money isn't part of their own trading income for tax and accounting purposes.
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