Paying your spouse, partner or children for farm work can be sound and perfectly normal, or a tax and payroll mess. The difference is deciding the arrangement first and keeping it genuine.
A farmer can employ a spouse, partner or children as employees, take a spouse in as a partner, or accept unpaid help, and each route carries different duties. Paid employees need PAYE registration once earnings reach £96 a week in 2026-27 and, usually, the National Minimum Wage (£12.71 for ages 21 and over from April 2026). Wages are deductible only if there is no non-trade purpose and the amount is not set by the family relationship. Children face age, hours and machinery limits, and wage records must be kept for six years.
Yes, and many farms do. The real question is which of three routes fits what happens on the farm.
Decide before the first payment. A lump sum 'for helping' that nobody has classified leaves a payroll gap and wages the accountant cannot defend. This guide is England-first. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have agricultural wage orders, covered in our agricultural minimum wage guide. Have your accountant confirm the route.
If you pay a family member for work done under your direction, treat them as an employee. That means a payslip, PAYE where it applies, and written terms: the principal statement is due on the first day and the wider statement within two months. GOV.UK also says you do not need Employers' Liability insurance if you only employ close family, though I would ask your insurer to confirm your own policy.
Unpaid help is narrower than people assume. HMRC's manual says a family member living at home as part of the family and helping with family chores does not qualify for the minimum wage, and the same goes for a family member living at the employer's family home and taking part in running the family business.
A grown-up son or daughter living elsewhere who comes back for lambing is a different case. The manual adds that a limited company cannot have a family or own a family home, so if the farm is run through a company, do not lean on this exemption.
A genuine partner is not an employee. HMRC's test is whether people are carrying on a business in common with a view of profit, looking at the intention of the parties. For spouses, there is no need to contribute capital, take part in management or be able to do the main work of the business.
That is why farming couples often use partnerships. Where a deed declares an intention to carry on the business, gives a right to share in the profits, and the accounts allocate a share, there is not usually much chance of a successful challenge. The split is not tested against contribution as a wage would be.
There is a catch. The settlements legislation can apply where higher earners use lower earners' allowances on partnership profits. Children can be partners if they understand the business, but where a child's share was transferred from a parent, the income is treated as the parent's until the child is 18. A written deed and your accountant's advice are essential.
Usually yes, if they are employees and no exemption applies. England has no separate agricultural minimum wage, so the ordinary rates apply: from April 2026, £12.71 an hour for ages 21 and over, £10.85 for 18 to 20 and £8 under 18. You must be at least school leaving age to get the minimum wage, which matters for younger children.
Pay is not just the headline figure. Accommodation, unpaid overtime and piece rates all feed in, and the holiday pay and accommodation offset guide explains the traps. The exemption refers to the employer's family home, so a relative living in a separate farm cottage is not obviously covered. Check before you assume it.
My advice is to pay family employees the going rate for the job, as you would a stranger. It is the safest position for minimum wage and for the tax deduction below.
The same as for anyone. You must register for PAYE if an employee is paid £96 or more a week, gets expenses or benefits, has a pension or has had another job. Even if you need not register, you still need to keep payroll records. That £96 is the 2026-27 secondary threshold, only about £5,000 a year, so a spouse on a modest wage can trip it.
Once you run payroll, you report payments and deductions to HMRC on or before each payday, which is Real Time Information. Employer National Insurance is 15 per cent above the £5,000 secondary threshold, and the £10,500 Employment Allowance for 2026-27 may reduce that bill if you are eligible. Employee National Insurance starts only above the primary threshold of £242 a week.
Workplace pension duties may also apply: see our workplace pension guide. Ask your accountant to set payroll up before the first payday, not after the first cheque.
Yes, if they pass the 'wholly and exclusively' test. HMRC's manual says a family relationship does not automatically disallow the wages, and where there is equal pay for equal value the amount is fully allowable. It fails where there is a non-trade purpose or the amount is determined by the relationship.
The test is reasonableness. A relative paid significantly more than third parties doing the same job is an indicator of a non-trade purpose. HMRC may disallow only the excess, and it compares like with like: the comparators must have similar qualifications, experience and job description. There is also a timing rule: a deduction is deferred for amounts paid more than nine months after the end of the accounting period.
What I would check first: is there a real job, are hours and tasks recorded, and would I pay a stranger the same? Pay by bank transfer, run it through payroll if required, and note the duties. A round figure that exactly fills a tax band invites a question.
Children's work is tightly controlled, and I would not assume a family farm is exempt: the GOV.UK guide does not say so. Children can work part-time from 14, or 13 in some council areas, and start full-time work only at school leaving age. They may not work before 7am or after 7pm, or more than 12 hours a week in term time, and a council employment permit may be required. Without one, the employer may not be insured for accidents involving the child. In school holidays the limit is 25 hours a week at 14 and 35 hours at 15 to 16.
The farm hazards are the serious part. No child under 13 may drive or ride on tractors and other self-propelled agricultural machines. Children under 16 must not drive or operate harvesters, powered cutting machines, sprayers, lift trucks, skid steer loaders or all-terrain vehicles. For under-18s, your risk assessment must allow for inexperience. HSE also says most children who die in farm incidents are family members.
Exactly what you would keep for a stranger: payroll records, hours worked, pay, deductions, the written statement and the date of birth, which fixes the minimum wage band. The farm wage records guide sets out the six-year rule and what HMRC expects.
For family, add a short job description and a note of the hours expected, because that is the evidence the wage reflects real work. Also decide who sees the books. Our guide to multi-user access covers who should see what.
Where does FarmHQ fit? FarmHQ is a farm office app for UK livestock farms, in pre-launch beta. Its timesheets and wages tools are designed to keep hours and pay alongside the farm's other records. It does not replace your accountant or the official guidance. Plans are on the pricing page.
Not always. A spouse who is a partner shares profits instead of earning wages, and a spouse paid for work is an employee. Unpaid help is allowed only in narrow cases, such as a family member living in the family home and sharing in running the business.
Within strict limits. Children can work part-time from 14, or 13 in some council areas, with hour limits, and may need a council employment permit. Pay must reflect real work, and farm machinery rules apply whatever the family link. Check your council and HSE guidance first.
Yes, if they are wholly and exclusively for the farm's trade and reasonable for the work done. Wages are allowable where family members are paid what an unrelated person would receive for the same job. Excessive pay, or pay shaped by the relationship, risks disallowance.
Not if they are a genuine partner. A partner carries on the business in common with others with a view to profit and takes a share of profits, not wages. A spouse can be a partner without contributing capital or working in the business, but a genuine deed and the settlements rules need your accountant's advice.