Tax Guide for Gardeners and Landscapers

The Accounted Business Team·13 February 2026·7 min read

Whether you maintain gardens, design landscapes, or do a bit of both, understanding your tax obligations means you keep more of what you earn. Gardening and landscaping bring some specific tax considerations — from expensive equipment to seasonal income patterns and the Construction Industry Scheme. This guide covers everything you need to know for the 2025/26 tax year.

Registering as Self-Employed

If your total self-employed income from gardening or landscaping exceeds £1,000 in the tax year (6 April 2025 to 5 April 2026), you must register as self-employed with HMRC and file a Self Assessment tax return.

Register by 5 October following the end of the tax year you started. If you have been doing occasional garden maintenance for cash alongside a regular job and the total exceeds £1,000, you need to register.

The £1,000 trading allowance covers you if your income is at or below that level — no need to register or report.

What Expenses Can Gardeners and Landscapers Claim?

Equipment

This is usually the biggest category. Gardening and landscaping require serious equipment, and the tax treatment depends on the cost.

Thanks to the Annual Investment Allowance (AIA), you can deduct the full cost of equipment in the year of purchase — the AIA covers up to £1,000,000, well above what any sole trader gardener will spend. This covers everything from hand tools (spades, shears, rakes) to power tools (lawnmowers, strimmers, hedge trimmers, chainsaws, leaf blowers, pressure washers) and safety equipment (gloves, goggles, ear defenders, steel-toe boots).

Repairs and servicing of equipment are deductible as they occur. Mower servicing, chainsaw chain sharpening, and replacement parts all count.

Van and vehicle costs

Most gardeners and landscapers need a van or truck to carry equipment and materials. You have two options:

Option 1: Simplified mileage rates

45p per mile for the first 10,000 business miles
25p per mile after that

This covers all running costs — fuel, insurance, servicing, repairs, road tax, and depreciation. It is simple but you cannot also claim capital allowances on the vehicle.

Option 2: Actual costs

Claim the business proportion of all actual running costs (fuel, insurance, road tax, MOT, servicing, repairs, tyres, breakdown cover) plus capital allowances on the purchase price. For vans (not cars), the full cost can be deducted in the year of purchase through the AIA.

You must work out the percentage of miles that are business versus personal. If 80% of your van's mileage is for work, you claim 80% of the running costs.

Which is better? For a van doing heavy mileage with high fuel costs, actual costs often works out better than the flat mileage rate. Run the numbers both ways before committing — but note that once you have claimed capital allowances on a vehicle, you cannot switch to mileage rates for that vehicle.

Plants, materials, and supplies

If you supply plants, compost, turf, gravel, paving, fencing, or any other materials to clients as part of a job, the cost of those materials is deductible.

Track these carefully. If you buy materials for a specific job, keep the receipt and note which job it was for. If you buy in bulk, you can only deduct the cost of materials actually used in the tax year — stock sitting in your garage is not deductible until you use or sell it.

Waste disposal

Skip hire, tip fees, and green waste disposal costs are deductible. If you need a waste carrier's licence to transport garden waste (which you do in England and Wales), the licence fee is also deductible.

Insurance

Public liability insurance: Essential for anyone working on clients' property. Fully deductible.
Employer's liability insurance: Required if you have any employees, even casual ones. Fully deductible.
Tool and equipment insurance: Protects against theft from your van. Deductible.
Van insurance: Deductible (business proportion if also used personally).

Clothing, training, and other costs

Protective clothing specifically for work is deductible (steel-toe boots, waterproof overalls, hi-vis, ear defenders). Ordinary outdoor clothing you also wear outside work is not, even if you bought it for work.

Training and qualifications are deductible: chainsaw certificates (CS30, CS31), pesticide application certificates (PA1, PA6), landscaping courses, first aid, and CSCS cards.

You can also claim the business proportion of your phone bill, accounting software fees, website and advertising costs, and home office expenses if you do admin from home (HMRC's flat rate of £10-£26 per month or actual proportion of household costs).

The Construction Industry Scheme (CIS)

This is the tax issue that catches many landscapers off guard. If you do landscaping work that qualifies as construction — such as building patios, retaining walls, driveways, decking, or fencing — you may need to be registered under the Construction Industry Scheme.

When does CIS apply?

CIS applies when you carry out construction work (which includes landscaping that involves construction) for a contractor — meaning a business that pays subcontractors for construction work. This typically applies when:

A building company hires you to landscape a new-build garden
A property developer subcontracts landscaping to you
A main contractor brings you in for groundwork or hard landscaping

CIS does not usually apply when:

You work directly for a homeowner on their personal property
You do garden maintenance (mowing, weeding, pruning) rather than construction

How CIS works

If CIS applies, the contractor must deduct tax from your payments before paying you:

20% if you are registered with HMRC for CIS
30% if you are not registered

You then get credit for these deductions on your Self Assessment tax return. If too much has been deducted, you get a refund.

Register for CIS if there is any chance you will do construction-related work for contractors. The 20% rate is much better than 30%, and registration is free.

Practical example

A building company hires you to landscape five new-build gardens at £3,000 each. Total: £15,000. If you are CIS-registered, they deduct 20% (£3,000) and pay you £12,000. You report the full £15,000 as income on your tax return and claim the £3,000 as tax already paid. If your actual tax bill is £2,000, you get £1,000 back.

Seasonal Income Planning

Gardening is seasonal. Spring and summer are busy. Winter can be quiet. This creates two challenges:

Uneven cash flow

You might earn the bulk of your income between March and October, but your tax bill is due in January. The temptation is to spend freely during the busy months and then struggle when the tax bill arrives.

Solution: Set aside 25-30% of every payment into a separate savings account throughout the year. Do not touch it until your tax is due.

Payments on Account

If your Self Assessment tax bill is over £1,000, HMRC requires Payments on Account — advance payments towards next year's tax. These are each half of the previous year's bill, due on 31 January and 31 July.

If your income drops significantly (perhaps due to a bad winter), you can apply to reduce your Payments on Account. But be cautious — if you reduce them too much and your actual bill is higher, HMRC charges interest on the shortfall.

Diversifying winter income

Some gardeners take on winter work like gutter cleaning, pressure washing, or Christmas light installation. This is still self-employed income that must be reported, and related expenses are deductible.

Working Out Your Tax

Add up all your gardening and landscaping income
Subtract allowable expenses and capital allowances
If CIS deductions have been made, note the amounts
The result is your taxable profit

Apply the £12,570 Personal Allowance, then:

20% on profits from £12,571 to £50,270
40% from £50,271 to £125,140
45% above £125,140

National Insurance:

Class 2: £3.45 per week (if profits above £12,570)
Class 4: 6% on profits between £12,570 and £50,270, then 2% above

Deduct any CIS tax already paid from your final bill.

Record Keeping

Keep records for at least five years:

Invoices for every job
Receipts for materials, fuel, equipment, and supplies
CIS payment and deduction statements from contractors
Mileage log
Bank statements

With jobs varying from a £30 lawn mow to a £10,000 landscaping project, records can get messy. Accounted keeps it organised — Penny, the AI bookkeeper, categorises your transactions as they come in. No more January scrambles through shoeboxes of faded receipts.

Start Your Free Trial With Accounted

You got into gardening because you love working outdoors, not filling in spreadsheets. Accounted gives gardeners and landscapers a simple, affordable way to manage their tax and bookkeeping. Start your free trial today and keep your business growing.

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