Due to the nature of the tax system, we cannot provide information covering each eventuality within the tax guide. With tax matters, everyone is different, and not all questions listed below may appear on your return. Where your circumstances are more complex than just standard employment and self employment, seek professional assistance to complete your return.
This page covers entering your income and expense figures into your tax return. You’ll need the figures from your MalgraBooks cloud spreadsheet, Pulse or accounting records.
Finding Your Figures in MalgraBooks
Before you start entering figures into HMRC’s system, locate your final income and expense totals in your MalgraBooks spreadsheet or within the Pulse Reports system.
Make sure all your income and expenses are entered and up to date before noting down these figures.
Your accounts should be complete for the full tax year (6 April 2024 to 5 April 2025 for the 2024/25 tax year).
Entering Your Income
Turnover – Takings, Fees, Sales or Money Earned by Your Business
This is your Total Income figure from your MalgraBooks accounts
Enter the total amount of money you received from your Slimming World consultancy business during the tax year. This includes:
- Group payments from Slimming World
- Shop sales
- Gift voucher sales
- Any other consultancy-related income
Example: If your accounts shows Total Income of £18,450.75, enter 18450.75
Any Other Business Income Not Already Included Above
This should usually be left blank.
Only complete this if you have business income that wasn’t included in your turnover figure above. For example:
- Business interest received on a business bank account
- Income from selling business assets
- Insurance payouts
If all your consultancy income is already included in your turnover figure (which it should be if you’re using MalgraBooks accounts), leave this blank.
Trading Income Allowance
The trading income allowance is a tax relief of up to £1,000 that you can claim instead of claiming actual expenses.
This usually doesn’t apply to Slimming World consultants because:
- Your actual expenses are typically much higher than £1,000
- Claiming actual expenses gives you better tax relief
Leave this blank unless you specifically want to claim the trading allowance instead of your actual expenses (not recommended).
If you claim the £1,000 trading income allowance, you cannot also claim your actual business expenses. Only use this if your total expenses are less than £1,000 (which is rare for consultants).
Entering Your Expenses
How Would You Like to Record Your Expenses?
HMRC gives you two options for recording expenses:
- As a single total value (recommended)
- In detailed categories
Option 1: As a Single Total Value (Recommended)
Select “As a single total value” and enter your total expense amount from your MalgraBooks accounts.
This is the simplest method and is perfectly acceptable to HMRC. Your detailed expense breakdown is already recorded in your MalgraBooks accounts if HMRC ever needs to see it.
Example: If your accounts shows Total Expenses of £8,234.50, enter 8234.50
Option 2: In Detailed Categories
If you select this option, you’ll need to enter your expenses broken down into specific categories such as:
- Cost of goods bought for resale or goods used
- Car, van and travel expenses
- Wages, salaries and other staff costs
- Rent, rates, power and insurance costs
- Repairs and renewals of property and equipment
- Phone, fax, stationery and other office costs
- Advertising and business entertainment costs
- Interest on bank and other loans
- Bank, credit card and other financial charges
- Irrecoverable debts written off
- Accountancy, legal and other professional fees
- Depreciation and loss/profit on sale of assets
- Other business expenses
This method takes longer and requires you to categorize your expenses differently from how they appear in your MalgraBooks accounts.
Recommendation: Most consultants should use “As a single total value” – it’s quicker, simpler, and equally acceptable to HMRC.
Important Notes
Double-Check Your Figures
Before submitting, verify that:
- Your income figure matches your accounts exactly
- Your expenses figure matches your accounts exactly
- All transactions for the tax year are included
- You haven’t accidentally included personal expenses
What If My Figures Don’t Match HMRC’s Records?
HMRC may have records of your Slimming World income from their Real Time Information (RTI) system. If your declared income differs significantly from their records, they may query it.
This is usually fine – just make sure you can explain any differences if asked. Common reasons include:
- Timing differences (income paid in different tax years)
- Shop sales and gift vouchers (not reported to HMRC by Slimming World)
- Refunds or adjustments
Keep Your Records
You must keep your records for at least 5 years from the 31 January submission deadline. This means:
- Keep your MalgraBooks spreadsheet or accounts system active
- Keep receipts and invoices
- Keep bank statements
- Keep any supporting documentation
Next Steps
Once you’ve entered your income and expenses, you’ll move on to tax adjustments and final details.