Keep earnings and fee statements from every delivery app, plus direct bookings, tips and relevant costs. Reconcile the full earnings to the payouts. Platform deductions are not automatically tax, and a platform sending data to HMRC does not complete your personal return.
Reconcile every app separately
Download the full earnings and fee statements from each platform. Add cash tips and direct work where applicable. Reconcile fees, refunds and adjustments to the bank payout before combining the year’s income.
Illustration: one app shows £600 earnings and £60 fees, paying £540. Another pays £300 with no deductions shown. The first statement still needs its gross earnings and fee identified; adding bank deposits alone gives a different picture from the underlying activity.
Tell the accountant what you ride or drive
A bicycle, motorcycle and car do not automatically use the same expense treatment. Keep purchase or lease records, relevant insurance and business-mile evidence. Record when you changed vehicle and how much private use there was.
Do not mistake app charges for tax
A net payout can reflect a platform fee rather than Income Tax withheld. Read the statement rather than assuming the platform has paid your personal tax. Reporting data to HMRC is also different from filing your return.
Include the work outside the busiest app
Give the accountant other employment, private bookings and separate business records. Use the UK tax year, even if the platform summary uses a calendar year. Send any missing-period questions early so the return does not rely on one incomplete annual total.
Make the platform totals agree before combining them
Create one line per app with gross earnings, refunds, fees, other adjustments and net payout. Add the lines only after each reconciles. Keep a separate list for cash tips and direct bookings that never appeared on an app.
For example, if an app’s annual summary covers January to December, mark which months belong in each UK tax year. Do not add it to an April-to-April export of the same earnings. The same delivery must appear once, even where several reports describe it.
Two delivery apps, one complete record
Illustrative example.
Imagine App A shows £700 gross earnings and £100 fees, while App B shows £500 earnings and £50 fees. With no other adjustments, the bank payouts total £1,050, while gross earnings total £1,200 and the listed fees total £150. Keep each platform breakdown.
If the courier also received £80 from direct bookings, add those records to the reconciliation. Do not use a platform’s calendar-year report as though it automatically covers the UK tax year. These are simplified bookkeeping figures; the treatment of each amount still needs checking.
| Check | Practical action |
|---|---|
| App A | £700 earnings less £100 fees gives £600 payout. |
| App B | £500 earnings less £50 fees gives £450 payout. |
| Other work | Direct bookings and other receipts need separate records. |
Can I send only the busiest app’s summary?
That omits other work. Include all platforms and direct customers for the relevant period.
What if a report covers January to December?
Identify its reporting dates and obtain records that allow the correct tax-year period to be prepared.
Download a checklist for this guide
- All platforms and direct customers
- Statement start and end dates
- Earnings, deductions and payouts
- Vehicle changes and business-use evidence
- Other employment or trading records