My Tax Advisor

When bands first start earning money, one of the biggest questions is often:
"What records do we actually need to keep?"

It's easy to think bookkeeping can wait until the band is making "real money"; but that's one of the biggest mistakes we see.

Whether you're earning from gigs, merchandise, streaming or royalties, good record keeping from day one can save a lot of time (and stress) later.

In our latest blog, we explain:
🎵 What income and expenses to track
🎵 The minimum records every band should keep
🎵 Whether your band should operate as individuals, a partnership or a limited company
🎵 VAT and Making Tax Digital: when they might apply
🎵 Why a simple written agreement between band members is just as important as your bookkeeping

If you're in a band, we hope you'll find it useful.

🔗 Read the full article here:

What Records Does a Band Need to Keep? A UK Tax Guide Find out what records your band should keep, how different band structures affect tax, and what you need to know about VAT and MTD for Income Tax.

We're always so grateful to receive messages like this. 💙

Creating practical, easy-to-use resources that genuinely help musicians navigate tax is exactly why Musicians' Tax Advisor exists, so hearing feedback like this means a lot.

We're also incredibly proud to work alongside , delivering the Tax Helpline and webinars like Making Tax Digital – What Software Should I Use?, as well as resources like our MTDfIT software comparison database.

If you're an MU member, don't forget about the fantastic support and resources available to you; from the Tax Helpline and webinars to practical guides designed specifically for working musicians.

A huge thank you to everyone who joins the sessions, asks questions and shares their feedback. It really does make our day. 🎶

"I'm incorporating... does my music automatically belong to my company now?”

Many musicians assume copyright, publishing income and royalty streams automatically move into the company. In practice, it can be much more complicated.

With HMRC increasingly comparing information received from PRS, MCPS and PPL against tax returns, now is a good time to review whether your structure still reflects how your rights and income are actually held.

If you've incorporated, or are thinking about doing so, it's worth checking you've documented everything properly.

🎵 What MTD software should I use?

If you're an MU member and Making Tax Digital for Income Tax has left you wondering where to start, this session is for you.

Join us this Thursday 25th June at 1pm for a practical webinar with , where we'll discuss:
✔️ HMRC-recognised software options
✔️ Typical costs and what you actually get
✔️ Whether spreadsheets are still an option
✔️ Common mistakes to avoid
✔️ The questions you should ask before choosing a system

Choosing software isn't just about complying with MTD; it's about finding a system that works for your mix of income streams and the way you run your music business.

🔔This session is exclusively for Musicians' Union members.

👉 Register now via the Musicians' Union Events page.

Looking forward to seeing you there!

If you split your time between the UK and abroad, where you spend each day can change your tax status. Our latest blog breaks down UK tax residency rules for musicians and why accurate day counting matters; touring, teaching, recording or family time all count. Read more: https://wix.to/FWVupRM

UK Tax Residency for Musicians: Why Day Counting Matters More Than You Think If you split your time between the UK and another country, one of the most important financial records you can keep isn't a receipt, an invoice, or a contract.It's a record of where you are each day.For musicians, this is especially important. Touring, overseas performances, teaching engagements, re...

I spent some time recently talking to Nina Brazier and Kitty Whately for the Swap'ra podcast about parental rights and what support is available to musicians.

Because so many musicians have portfolio careers with a mixture of employed and self-employed income, we explored the differences between Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) and Maternity Allowance, including when there might be a choice between the two and which could be the better option.

But the biggest surprise for me came during the research - the lack of parental support for same s*x Dads.

There’s no Paternity Allowance as an alternative to Maternity Allowance; nor is there Adoption Allowance. That’s so unfair and so out of step with modern life.

That leaves a significant gap in support for some parents embarking on parenthood, particularly self-employed fathers and some same-s*x male couples, who may have no option other than to self-fund during those early months with a new baby.

This leaves a significant gap in support compared with parents who may be eligible for Maternity Allowance or Statutory Maternity Pay.

It's a complex and technical topic, and there's plenty of editing happening behind the scenes at the moment, but I'm really looking forward to hearing the finished episode.

Hopefully it will become a useful resource for musicians who are thinking about starting or growing their families.

For smaller organisations; charities, arts organisations, owner-managed businesses; hiring a full-time Finance Director or a whole finance function often isn't the right answer. The cost doesn't stack up, and the need isn't always constant.

That's where a virtual finance office (VFO) can come into its own. Not as a replacement for the people already doing good work on the ground, but as a layer of expertise that sits alongside them. Here's where it tends to add the most value:

Getting the foundations right.
Budget templates, cash flow structures, reporting frameworks; the building blocks that mean financial information flows clearly between the team doing the work and the board overseeing it. It's often a defined piece of work upfront, not an ongoing drain.

Translating numbers for boards.
Trustees and board members don't always want a spreadsheet. They want to understand, in plain language, where things stand. A good finance partner translates the numbers into a narrative that actually helps a board govern well.

The specialist questions.
VAT, OTR, partial exemption, withholding tax; the areas where the rules are complicated, change by jurisdiction, or just don't come up often enough for an in-house generalist to stay sharp on. Having someone to call who already knows the territory matters.

A sounding board.
Sometimes what's most useful isn't an expert coming in to fix something; it's having a knowledgeable colleague to think out loud with. Someone who knows how other organisations handle the same problems, and who can say "yes, there's actually a much easier way to do that."

Moments of transition.
A key person going on leave, a structural change, a move to new software; these are the moments when having external expertise on hand, even temporarily, makes a real difference.

The model works best when the relationship is clear: defined scope, specific outcomes, and a genuine understanding of the sector you're operating in.

Why counting your travel days matters more than people realise...

One of the biggest mistakes we see people make is not tracking the days they spend in each country.

But those day counts can affect:
- Where you pay tax
- Whether you’re considered tax resident
- Access to things like ISAs
- How tax treaties apply to your income

And unfortunately, most people only realise how important this is once things have already become complicated.

Future you will be very grateful for a simple spreadsheet. 🙏

When people think about international touring, they usually picture the performances.

What they don’t see is the financial coordination happening behind the scenes.

Tour budgets are often built years in advance, across multiple countries, currencies, tax systems, VAT rules, and constantly changing costs.

And for smaller touring organisations without large finance teams, keeping everything aligned as an organisation grows can become incredibly complex.

Good budgeting systems aren’t just admin; they’re what make sustainable touring possible.

We’re delighted to be working with Voces8 as their outsourced finance team.

Fast-growing music organisations reach a point where they need more complex financial oversight than reactive bookkeeping…
…but they don’t need (or want) a full in-house finance department.

That’s where we come in.

On any given day, we might be acting as:
→ Financial Controller
→ Systems & software support
→ Tax advisor
→ Bookkeeping
→ Strategic sounding board

It’s what’s often called a “Virtual Finance Office” - giving organisations access to a full finance function, without needing to build a big internal team.

For us, it’s about making sure the right expertise is there at the right time and in the right proportion - so organisations can grow with confidence, yet stay streamlined and cost efficient.

We're looking forward to supporting the Voces8 Foundation team!