Soniq Studio has tax settings. You can say whether you are registered for VAT, add your VAT number and company number, and give each price its own tax treatment. Soniq Studio then puts those details on every invoice you create.

What Soniq Studio does not do is tell you which settings to choose. It does not say whether you should register for VAT, which treatment fits your lessons, or which rate to charge. This page explains why.

Every teacher’s tax position is different

Music teachers work in many different ways. Soni Starr is a sole trader who is just starting out and is not registered for VAT. Another teacher might be registered. Another might run a limited company, teach through a music school, or sell books and accessories alongside lessons. Some teachers live in the UK. Others live in EU countries, where the rules are different.

The right tax settings depend on all of these things, and on details only you and your accountant know. A piece of software that sees your timetable and your invoices does not see the whole picture. If Soniq Studio guessed, it would be wrong for some teachers, and the teacher would carry the cost of that mistake.

Tax rules change

Rates, thresholds and deadlines change over time. A help page that quotes a figure can be out of date the day after it is written. So these pages do not quote them. Instead, they link to GOV.UK, which HMRC keeps up to date:

For the same reason, Soniq Studio does not change the VAT rate on your prices for you. The rate on a price is the rate you saved. When you create a price, Soniq Studio may fill in a starting treatment and rate to save you typing, but that is a starting point, not a decision. You check it and save it.

Soniq Studio keeps the record

Soniq Studio’s job is to keep an accurate record of what you charged, and to show it clearly to the families who pay you. That is why:

  • each invoice keeps the tax details it was created with, even if you change your settings later,
  • tax comes from the price, so it is the same on every invoice line made from that price,
  • exempt, zero-rated and “no VAT” lines stay separate on every invoice, so your accountant can tell them apart,
  • the invoice page, the PDF, the email, the contact portal and the payment page all show the same figures.

You and your accountant make the decisions. Soniq Studio records them faithfully, and keeps the admin as low-key as possible.

Where to get help with tax

  • For general rules, start with GOV.UK. The Tax registration card in Soniq Studio links to GOV.UK too.
  • For your own situation, speak to an accountant or tax adviser.
  • For how a setting works in Soniq Studio, see Tax settings and tax treatments.