Hair & Beauty Salon Chair Rental Agreements
Popular in the hair and beauty industry, Hair & Beauty Salon Chair Rental Agreements allow beauty professionals to enjoy the benefits of working in a salon and independence without the inflexibility of being an employee of the salon.
A beauty professional – hairdresser, beauty therapist, or nail care technician – provides their services under these templates agreements as a freelance self-employed trader. In each case they contract personally with the salon for the right to operate their beauty business in the salon’s premises using a chair and other equipment made available to them by the salon.
There are two alternative versions of the agreement for each type of beauty professional.
Firstly, there is a version under which they independently provide their freelance services direct to their own clients. Secondly, there is a version where, in addition to providing services direct to their own clients, they can also provide their services (as a subcontractor to the salon) to any existing client of the salon that the salon refers to them on any occasion.
Where the freelancer deals with their own clients, they are paid direct by those clients, and where they deal with a salon client referred to them by the salon, the client pays the salon and the freelancer is then paid by the salon.
Where the professional does not contract personally with the salon in this way but, instead, they provide their freelance services through a personal service or other intermediary company (“PSC”), the PSC (not the individual professional) contracts with the salon. Types of agreement for use where a PSC is involved in that way can be found in the accompanying Hair & Beauty Salon Chair Rental Agreements (Company) .
Each of the templates below seek to minimise the risk that HMRC will regard the individual freelancer as an employee of the salon rather than as a self-employed sole trader. All of them take into account relevant legal and industry developments, including case law, employment law, IR35 tax rules, and VAT law.
As explained in the information page accompanying each form of contract, the use of any of these templates can only seek to reduce but cannot actually remove this risk. Professional advice should therefore be sought, and that advice needs to take account not only of the content of the proposed document but also all of the circumstances and arrangements relating to the work, the individual, and the salon.
Hair & Beauty Salon Chair Rental Agreements is part of Business . Just £38.50 + VAT provides unlimited downloads from Business for 1 year.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to charge VAT on chair rent? +
If your salon is VAT-registered, then usually yes. HMRC treats hairdressing and beauty chair rental as a standard-rated supply for VAT, not an exempt letting of land, because you are providing facilities and services such as washbasins, reception, booking and towels alongside the chair space. So VAT is normally due on the chair rent you charge the stylist. If your salon is not VAT-registered, you do not charge VAT, but count chair rental income toward the registration threshold.
I rent a chair in a salon. Does that make me self-employed or an employee of the salon? +
A chair rental agreement is meant to make you a self-employed sole trader, not an employee, but the paperwork alone does not settle it. HMRC or a tribunal will look at how you actually work: whether you set your own hours and prices, keep your own clients and takings, take financial risk and are free of the salon's control. The more the salon runs your working day, the higher the risk you are treated as an employee. These agreements are drafted to support genuine self-employment, but they reduce that risk rather than remove it.
I run a salon and want stylists to rent chairs instead of being employees. What agreement do I need? +
Use a hair and beauty salon chair rental agreement. It lets a hairdresser, beauty therapist or nail technician operate their own business from your salon using a chair and facilities you provide, as a self-employed sole trader rather than an employee. It sets the rental terms, use of the premises and equipment and each side's responsibilities. Choose the version that matches whether the professional serves only their own clients or also takes clients you refer to them.
What is the difference between the two versions of the chair rental agreement? +
The versions differ in whose clients the professional serves. Under the first, the professional deals only with their own clients, who pay them direct, and simply rents the chair from the salon. Under the second, they also take clients the salon refers to them, acting as a subcontractor to the salon for those clients, so the salon is paid by the client and then pays the professional. Pick the version that matches how clients and payments will actually flow.
I provide my services through my own company, not personally. Which agreement do I use? +
Use the company version. These chair rental agreements are for a professional who contracts with the salon personally as a self-employed sole trader. Where you provide your services through your own limited company, usually a personal service company, the company contracts with the salon and you should use the Hair & Beauty Salon Chair Rental (Company) agreements, which are drafted for that structure and take account of the off-payroll working rules. Simply-Docs offers these in the IR35 and Other Company Agreements group.
