Is that before or after tax?

After. The take-home column is what is left once income tax, Class 4 National Insurance and running costs have come out, calculated on 2025/26 rates for a self-employed sole trader in England, Wales or Northern Ireland.

How much should I set aside for tax as a physiotherapist?

In the worked example, about £10 of every £65 session, or £557 a month. The proportion rises as your profit does, so it is worth recalculating when your caseload or fee changes.

Earnings guide

How much does a private physiotherapist earn in the UK?

Q: How much does a private physiotherapist earn in the UK?

It depends on fee and caseload. At £65 a session with £300 a month of costs, 14 clients a week grosses £41,860 and leaves about £31,581 after income tax, National Insurance and running costs. A full caseload of 22 clients a week leaves about £47,376. Published price guides put physiotherapist fees at roughly £45–£100 a session.

Gross fees are not income. Here is what different caseloads and fees actually leave a self-employed physiotherapist once tax, National Insurance and practice costs come out.

The honest answer is that it depends on three things: what you charge, how many clients you see, and what your practice costs to run. Most pages answering this question stop at gross fees, which is the least useful number — it is not what reaches your bank account. Below is what different caseloads actually leave a self-employed physiotherapist after income tax, National Insurance and running costs.

What these figures assume. The 2026 Private Practice Barometer puts the median UK initial assessment at £74 and follow-ups at £63; consumer guides quote a £30–£80 range outside London. The tables use £65 a session and £300 a month of running costs as a worked example — not a claim about the average physiotherapist. They also assume 46 working weeks a year, sole-trader status, and 2025/26 rates for England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

What a physiotherapist takes home at £65 a session

Clients	Gross fees	Costs	Tax & NI	Take-home	Per month
6 a week	£17,940	£3,600	£460	£13,880	£1,157
10 a week	£29,900	£3,600	£3,570	£22,730	£1,894
14 a week	£41,860	£3,600	£6,679	£31,581	£2,632
18 a week	£53,820	£3,600	£9,789	£40,431	£3,369
22 a week	£65,780	£3,600	£14,804	£47,376	£3,948

At £65 a session, seeing 14 clients a week grosses £41,860 a year and leaves £31,581 — about £2,632 a month. A full caseload of 22 grosses £65,780 and leaves £47,376. The gap between those two numbers is smaller than the gap in gross fees, because more income means a higher share goes in tax.

What changing your fee does

At a steady 14 clients a week:

Fee	Gross fees	Tax & NI	Take-home	Per month
£45 a session	£28,980	£3,331	£22,049	£1,837
£65 a session	£41,860	£6,679	£31,581	£2,632
£83 a session	£53,452	£9,693	£40,159	£3,347
£100 a session	£64,400	£14,225	£46,575	£3,881

Raising your fee is worth more than adding clients, because it costs you no extra hours and no extra room hire. Going from £45 to £100 a session at the same caseload changes take-home by £24,526 a year.

Run it on your own numbers

Change the fee, the caseload and the costs to match your own practice — three questions, about a minute, no sign-up.

Calculate my take-home →

The costs that come out first

Running costs are the part most physiotherapists underestimate when setting a fee. The worked example above uses £300 a month; yours may be higher or lower, and these are the usual lines:

Clinic hire — Room or treatment-space rent, often per day.
HCPC registration — Statutory registration, plus CSP membership.
Insurance — Professional indemnity and public liability.
Equipment — Couch, exercise kit, electrotherapy, consumables.
CPD — Required for HCPC re-registration.

Tax, National Insurance and what to set aside

As a sole trader you pay income tax and Class 4 National Insurance on your profit — fees after allowable costs — not on your turnover. At 14 clients a week in the example above that is £38,260 of profit, £5,138 of income tax and £1,541 of Class 4 NI. Setting aside about £10 per session covers it, which is the number worth knowing before January arrives.

One thing on the horizon: Making Tax Digital for Income Tax is phased in by gross income, not profit. A full caseload at this fee grosses £65,780, which would bring you into MTD from April 2026 — quarterly digital updates rather than one annual return.

All earnings guides → How many clients to take home £40,000? →