Can I have more than one business as a sole trader?

Yes. In 2026-27 you can run two or more businesses as a sole trader. You file one Self Assessment return, with a separate self-employment page for each business, and under Making Tax Digital each business sends its own quarterly updates.

This follows GOV.UK and HM Revenue and Customs' (HMRC) helpsheet HS220, as checked on 19 October 2026.

One person, one tax return

As a sole trader, you and your businesses are the same person for tax. In our reading that means:

• one Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR), not one per business
• one Self Assessment return each year
• a separate set of self-employment pages on that return for each business

HMRC's helpsheet HS220 says to fill in separate self-employment pages for each trade.

Is it a second business or part of the same one?

In our reading, related work you do with the same skills and customers, such as an electrician who also does PAT testing, is usually part of the same trade. A different kind of business, such as a plumber who also runs a dog-grooming van, is usually a separate one.

How the tax is worked out

A few details matter:

• National Insurance. HS220 says you will normally pay Class 4 on your total taxable profits, but some adjustments (for example for earlier losses) are worked out trade by trade and can't be moved between trades.
• Trading allowance. The law gives you one £1,000 a year, shared across all your trades and any casual income, not £1,000 each. If you use it, it replaces actual expenses in all your trades, not just one; you can split the £1,000 between them.
• Cash basis. Since 6 April 2024 the cash basis is the default, and GOV.UK says you can choose cash basis or traditional accounting for each business. Before then, if one business used the cash basis, all of them had to.
• Losses. A loss stays on its own business's pages, but you may be able to claim to set it against your other income for the year, including the other business's profit. Conditions and limits apply; see how trading losses work for sole traders.

Making Tax Digital with more than one business

Who has to join

The test adds everything together. GOV.UK says qualifying income is your total income from self-employment and property before expenses (turnover), and that it may come from more than one source. So if you weren't already caught by the £50,000 test on your 2024-25 return, two businesses with £20,000 of turnover each in 2025-26 give £40,000 of qualifying income, over the £30,000 line, so you would join on 6 April 2027 even though neither business is over it alone. If a new business traded for only part of the year, GOV.UK says HMRC annualises it: 6 months of trading counts double. HMRC's manual says a business that stopped is generally not scaled up.

What each business does

Once you're in, HS220 says you need compatible software for each self-employment business and property business you have, to:

• create separate digital records
• send separate quarterly updates

GOV.UK says each update covers the tax year so far. At the end of the year you finalise each business and send one tax return.

Starting a new business when you're already in

GOV.UK says you must add a new self-employment business in your HMRC online services account, giving details such as its start date. You then include it in a tax return, and its digital records and quarterly updates start after that return is sent.

GOV.UK's example: if you're in Making Tax Digital and start a new business on 1 July 2026, it goes on your 2026-27 tax return (due by 31 January 2028), and its quarterly updates start from 6 April 2028. If you'd rather, you can choose in your HMRC online account to send quarterly updates for it from the date its income starts.

Stopping one business

If one business stops and another carries on, GOV.UK says you tell HMRC the end date in your online account by the quarterly update deadline for the period it stopped, and send any outstanding updates for it. Its example: a business that stops in May 2026 sends the update due by 7 August 2026, then no more. For stopping altogether, see how do I stop being self-employed?

VAT counts all of your businesses

VAT registration is for you as a person, not for each business, and VAT Notice 700/1 counts the total value of all the taxable supplies you make. You must register if, at the end of any month, your taxable sales across all your businesses in the last 12 months are over £90,000, or if you expect them to go over £90,000 in the next 30 days alone. Once registered, you account for VAT on the taxable sales of all of them. See do I need to register for VAT as a sole trader?

If you also rent out property

GOV.UK says all your UK properties are treated as one UK property business, so a second rental property joins the one you have rather than counting as a new business. Its rent still counts towards your Making Tax Digital qualifying income alongside your trade. If your property business itself started part-way through the year, GOV.UK says you scale its rent up to a full year yourself.

What this means for you

A second business doubles the record-keeping, and together your businesses can cross a Making Tax Digital line or the VAT threshold.

Steps to take

1. Decide whether the new work is a separate business or part of your existing trade.
2. Tell HMRC when it starts: on your next tax return, or in your HMRC online account if you're already in Making Tax Digital.
3. Keep separate records for each business, ideally with its own bank account.
4. Add up the turnover of all your businesses and any rent to check your Making Tax Digital start date, scaling a new business (property included) up to a full year, but not one that stopped.
5. Watch the total of your taxable sales across all your businesses against the £90,000 VAT threshold.

Use the free MTD check to see when Making Tax Digital starts for you, and the trades section for more guides.