I think for people just to see you in principle, break down your various expenses - never mind those specific to you, or even generally to a cab driver - is a great little life lesson which I think is criminally lacking from young people's education. I think I have heard that some schools have started financial sense and budgeting but most people's first taste of managing their own money is Uni. Having gone to all the effort of explaining in detail your various expenses - all of which, incidentally, I felt were entirely legitimate (so, for example although your grand total was 505.98, you came back to 440 or something after you removed stuff like pension but, as with the holiday, these are things that most folks will get as part of their job) - I'm therefore not really sure where your £16780 in the title came from? I went through your film twice and objectively could not fault, as already said, any of the things included so I think it's absolutely right that you stick with your original grand total. And quite simply 52 × 505.98 is just over £26 300 per annum. You must be the only person on KZfaq not to click bait your title! In fact, the figure you provide rather seems to UNDERestimate the actual total by not far away from 10k. In fact I feel you might have been a bit generous on the consumables (tyres, wiper blades etc) even if we assume (although you don't state it) that the cab servicing is included in your £250 a week. This is the first time I have seen your channel so haven't yet looked - but although you started to touch on it (mention was made if groceries and also, when calculating the cost of earning your holidays, you did mention you would still have to buy holiday) what another video might seek to do is to explain about how you pay yourself. Without divulging either what your take is - or what you pay yourself specifically, I think another aspect of being self employed, you need to know what your own personal expenses are, in order to know what you need to pay yourself. When I did my business course, one of the important factors was of course working out one's personal expenses for that purpose so a video outlining the rent/mortgage which, just as surely as the cab payments, has to be paid. You mentioned the groceries but there's also gas, electricity and Council tax. There is the holiday you mentioned - and again I truly feel two weeks in the sun is not a luxury but a necessity. The other 2 weeks of your 4 annual, you might stay at home seeing relatives, or DIY that sort of thing. Speaking of, any repairs, decoration, furnishings, gardening items would need to be factored in. An allowance for clothing and shoes. Mobile phone, landline and Internet. Most folk have at least a couple of subscriptions like Sky, Amazon Prime or Netflix - and many people do a small charitable donation. This is obviously highly subjective but many have a budget for "going out/socialising" - and I know people around the world ate still starving yet it doesn't seem unreasonable to enjoy the occasional meal out or trip to the pub. When I did the exercise, I put "gifts" in that section - little things for nephews and the like. Whether it's a gym or other sports/hobbies, there may need to be a budget for that. All in all it's more complex than people realise and more expensive! Did you mention paying your National Insurance or "stamp"? Likewise you could - or at least your accountant might - write a lot of your expenditures against tax, but you still have to be paid out the business earnings. If you haven't done a feature on that other side of it, I think that would be equally useful for anyone self employed or thinking about becoming self employed....

Hahah definitely Martin! Still get people who think I can do the one in, one out thing all day! Always sods law if I'm telling the punter that it's been bad in the cab, that when I drop them off there's someone waiting for me haha!

They make loads and spend loads ;)

Init guvnor?

@@TomtheTaxiDriver fuck ‘em

I was in Berlin a few years ago and got talking to a taxi driver. He told me their expenses are shocking and it's not uncommon for a taxi to be owned by 2 or 3 people and they all take their turn driving it to pay the bills.

Are you THE Simon Whitlock 🎯

@@richardmoore2627 no, thankfully.

Thank you so much Alex. Yes some journeys are more efficient on tube such as Northern line or Victoria line. Other areas of London are joke and cab will win all the time. There’s other benefits too like being able to change your destination, chat on the phone if you need to catch up on work, or just have your own private space. Thanks again 👍🏻

@@TomtheTaxiDriver This is exactly why I'm about to quit my job and become a taxi driver (not London). I'm fed up working for someone else and being told what to do by some dimwit who couldn't do it themselves if their life depended on it. I want the freedom to work when I want and to stop when I want. I'm not going into it blindly, I know what my expenses are likely to be and what hours I need to do to cover it.

Thanks for sharing!

Rip sorry to hear

Definitely! Lots of specialised professionals have to get extra qualifications and accreditations just to continue operating in a field they know inside out 👍🏻 Thank you for sharing

@@buckrussel3808 not really. we all have crazy expenses to pay. I pay council taxes of 2.5K/year...for less cops, poor road-maintenance. etc etc. meanwhile my wages have stayed the same for the last 5 years. We're all being ripped off.

@@alfamonk Yea, but Tom is paying all those taxes too

@@alfamonk true and employed people have costs too, also pay professional fees, thousands in commuting costs, no accountant sure but they also then can't choose to avoid PAYE higher rate income taxes in favour of corporate rates. Overall let's just agree it costs money to make money, regardless if self employed or not.

I wanted to be a snowboard instructor, but then I realised I love snowboarding and didn't want to spend blue bird days teaching noobs how to get down a blue slope. In my opinion it's better to work in a field that isn't your hobby, then you don't get sick of your hobby and working means you have something to look forward to, not to mention ski/snowboard instructor jobs pay is laughably bad.

@@sandersson2813 calm down giga chad...

I Can relate to this. I charge £20 an hour as a gardener and people think (its good money) isn’t it? I Drive from job to jobs diesel prices 🙈 less feasible for me now. Looking elsewhere outgoings are through the roof.

He must have been a very lazy taxi driver all his life

@@newsflash4382 you must have been a very silly c unt all your life.

@@joco2826 Laziness is no excuse for not being able to make money. 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Maybe been watching some gueguesr videos lately? That's how I was recommended

@@janperenboom7014 dont even know what that is!

You realise how inflation works right boomer? 20 years ago you bought your house for a quarter of what I paid for mine.

Cabbies earned double when they took cash? Hmm interesting 🤔

@@khoyrulislam Two different sentences, you made the choice to link them

@@khoyrulislam No their overheads were much lower compared to turnover meaning they made twice the profit.

In 2023 a txe is £76,000 and roughly just under £100,000 over 7 years it's crazy

Thanks Luke, will do! 😊

Correct

I’ve had a green badge since 1989. But since COVID hit I’ve been driving a London bus. As a bus driver I never have to worry about earning, as long as I do the hours I get paid. But I really miss choosing my own hours and being my own boss. Hopefully I’ll be back in a cab soon so I can stop those 7 day 70 hour stints starting at stupid o’clock and get back to regular hours. Bus drivers will always have my sympathy, it’s not an easy life.

@@darrylfloyd7371 hi Darryl fellow bus driver here in my company you can put your name down to do early middle or late shifts instead of mixed rota me I prefer lates

big respect for all the bus drivers! Putting up with all those characters! must be a mad house!

Yes that’s about the long an short of it plus your health suffers badly , it actually cost me my family too

@@darrylfloyd7371 that’s the Main thing. Your not owed when your a cabbie

Yea it’s way more than my rent and living costs in London. It’s almost like a mortgage, although I can’t live in the thing haha!

Your house doesn't earn for you. In the video you are not told how much he makes gross you would be shocked believe me.

@@ahmedyousuf966 it will be around £1500 a week if he does reasonable hours.

Thank you Peter really appreciate your kind words 😊 always trying to improve with every video 😊

Morning Toby! It will happen one day! Just be sure to give me a shout, always love seeing people about

@@TomtheTaxiDriver Drove past you Sunday morning on way to work up near bounds green, gave a little beep but you were talking away lol

Thanks for sharing Eric, sounds like you have the right balance to keeping your overheads low 😊

You're welcome Muhammed 😊

Very much so Seberous, whilst these are quite expensive costs, there are other benefits like you mention. Thanks again 😊

Thanks James 😊

Welcome aboard!

Hey Andrew, Thanks for the comment. I'm currently living in a North London suburb, pros and cons to living inside and outside of London, which I've tried both. Biggest benefit is that I do less miles on the cab, running costs are less, and time/availability of a job is higher (i.e. I can grab a Heathrow pick-up in short notice). With regards to not being able to pay rent/mortgage. I just ensure that my living costs are easily affordable, it limits my choice of housing/luxuries and location, but the best luxury is that if I do have a slack month (or year as this pandemic has shown). I'm not tied to a rental agreement or mortgage that is wayyy beyond my means.

Thanks again Matthew 😊

Definitely 😊

I imagine so! As people live longer the length of support the government have to give gets longer. I think that's why it's so important that people get a grasp of personal pensions early on!

I'm pretty sure there's not going to be the money for it in 40-50 years, so I'm putting a lot into company pension and S&S ISA, hopefully that way I can eat in retirement 🙄

Nah 67

It’s something people might do too late in life. I would love to think I’ll have a nice pension to walk into, but to afford that I’d have to not eat or have a car for the next 30 years 🤣

Great video You need to put much more into your SIPP though

I remember him saying in another video “2,500” for a full wrap advertisement

I get paid for them as effectively it is my taxi that I am paying for. But wouldn't be seen dead with an advert on the side of my cab haha!

Thanks Dominic! I was hesitant about posting it as I thought people might glaze over the numbers!

Thank you sir! and thanks for tuning in again!

Loool

Wow Martin, thanks again for your insights into this. You should make some videos for taxi driving in Norway, would be nice to get taxi drivers all around the world doing this 😊

Glad you enjoyed it 9elms!

Yup

Thank you Peter! Hope you’re enjoy the extra time of sunlight up there 👍🏻

Thanks Torsten, yes also run the taxi on electric as it is a much smoother ride, better for long term maintenance and usually cheaper (albeit time consuming to charge). Thanks and see you on the next one 😊

Oh wow! Thanks for sharing Tom. Yes I guess from the outside looking in, being self employed is incredibly daunting. I suppose its a case of starting small and building incrementally over time 😊

Self employment isn’t all that bad, you can choose your own hours etc. Like everything there is downsides

Thanks Gary I really appreciate it

Thanks for watching Craig 😊

Thank you Jack 👍🏻

Same in Switzerland. They de-regulated the industry in the late Nineties and a ton of drivers immediately handed in their notice of termination and tried to start as a self-employed 1 taxi operation. 1-2 years later half of them were already out of business but still there were way too many taxis and in the bigger cities they had these "taxi wars", drivers threatening others, there were assaults because some didn't follow the old unwritten laws. If you talk to an old cabbie these days they're reminiscing about the golden old days when they used to make good money.

Thanks!

That is what running a business is all about, same for any business. Driving a cab is actually pretty low overheads compared to many businesses.

@@schrodingerscat1863 If you compare to a bricks-and-mortar business in central London than maybe but compared to other driving based jobs it it crazy high.

@@soundseeker63 It's expensive compared to other driving jobs but the rates are much higher than other driving based jobs.

His minum earning is 1600 pound so you don't need yo worry

He covers his expenses in a couple of days

What’s misleading here is nearly everything he is listing here can be written off as a tax deductible. And the money they earn they don’t tell the taxman so relatively it’s lucrative.

I don't know what can and cannot "be written off as tax deductible" but what I worked out was how much he has to turn over before he earns anything. As for your comment about " the money they earn they don’t tell the taxman", I hope you can evidence that statement as everything is recorded either through credit card receipts or on the meter, so No I can't see how they don't tell the taxman what they earn. The taxman anyway takes most interest in cash businesses and will know through experience what a taxi driver is likely to earn in an average year and hence the amount of taxes they are due to pay. The last thing anybody wants is a tax investigation and a tax inspector going through every minute detail of your income and expenditure.

@@vjary8142 I’d say it’s relatively well known cabbies don’t pay tax for decades - there’s many articles on the matter on how little black cab drivers report to HMRC. Perhaps it’s changing as they can no longer use their old trick of the “broken card machine” but a lot will still take cash only and even with credit card payments you can still change accounts it goes into. Do you think he tells the taxman of his “tips”? It’s generally a thing of being self employed to only say you earnt £16k - it’s not exclusive to black cab drivers. Also his title says £16k, but as you say when you x the number he said by 52 it’s £26k. It wouldn’t be a sustainable profession if fees were actually £26k a year. We have a few black cabs outside near us (we live in London) and they genuinely are parked on the driveways of the nicest houses.

@@UKTopGun I think you’re over exaggerating the card machine antics a bit now. I imagine nearly all business is on card (80%) for cabbies. I for one never carry cash with me. But yeah they definitely still swindle the tax books, but I think it’s got harder for them to do it

Gangster controlled system for gansters.

Thanks for tuning in Saj 😊

Thank you Fraser 👍🏻

Believe it or not even people who don’t drive taxis have to eat

Servicing is currently including in my taxi deal, but yes after 3 years I have to pay for that. and of course parking fines, a nice occupational hazard which isn't tax deductible!

Your dad mustn’t have a clue how to drive if he earned 11 quid an hour

@@Yourballix well done replying to an old post referring to the pandemic - a time which was tough for many industries.

@@jackludo738 this video wasnt made during lockdown and it’s not about covid and guess what some people don’t watch videos made in the last 15 minutes. Stop making excuses for your dad, did he get the hang of a clutch yet

@@Yourballix you sound like a great son . Of you look at the date of the original post it was as we were coming out of Covid . So yes the vision was done during COVID . You also went on the attack rather than a discussion . So again shows you really don't have a clue. Or don't understand the costs involved in running a business legally. Her / his dad could quite easily be the busiest driver on the road. But still 'only' make 11 ish a hour as they only get paid when the wheels are turning .. So rather than attack someone posting their opinion why don't you go and do some self reflection take your head out of your arse . Stop living offa your parents . This vid is full of ppl doing the job who are saying the same thing

@@jackludo738 jack . Yeah it's a expensive trade to be in with all the costs involved . I've never driven a taxi but know ppl who do . But your dad did feed and clothe you all so

Thank you for watching Sam 👍🏻

You would be very hard pushed at the moment to make £150 a day on average! X 6 day week £900 total before overheads…….

Averages haha! Pre or post pandemic?

So how much did you turn over daily before covid and how about now?

Heard it’s lot better now up to 400 a shift even more if you lucky

Thank you 👍🏻

Yeah, my only surprise with his breakdown was £100+PW on petrol. Thought it would be much less...

@@oocares really? I thought it would be much more. They're heavy old vehicles and PHEVs only have limited battery range, so realistically in a car that is driving around all day, the charge isn't likely to last long unless you have a chance to recharge fairly often. Edit - didn't realise ICE just charges battery, thought it was a "traditional" PHEV. I'll pipe down now

It is an electric taxi as it runs purely on the electric motor the generator only keeps the battery topped up nothing more

Yep, the drive comes from the battery not the generator, hence electric.

By this same assumption, your household electricity isn't electric, as fossil fuels were burnt to create that electricity?

I suppose lack of miles during the pandemic helped 👍🏻

@@TomtheTaxiDriver True

Indeed, it's almost dizzying thinking about all the eventualities we have to cover. Thanks for subscribing Rob 😊

@The Stigg Yawn 😴, change the record, haters always hate. Life is too short to go in on people because of their job!

PHV's still need the overhaul and additional MOT (I believe). What is astounding is that we work for the same licensing authority, go to the same inspection centres, pay the same fee. YTE we have to have so many more regulations (plate on the back of the cab, signage in the cab, disability aids, turning circle). I personally don't mind the additional MOT, as it is of course a vehicle for private passengers, so to ensure their safety I agree it should be more a regular thing. The overhaul from TfL is also a good system to ensure that cabs are standardised and consistent throughout, however it's a far cry from the days of the met police running taxis. Who apparently would be incredibly pedantic on minor details of the cabs when it came to inspection. Yes on metered rates, you are correct, the unions/orgs have a survey every year that a driver can comment on. But majority of the time we all agree that it should remain the same (not increase), and usually increases marginally in line with inflation.

Until they surge price. Our meter is set by transport for London. Complain to them if you think it’s too hifh

Thats almost why I opt for weekend breaks, can almost put it into my working week haha!

Thanks AnimalMagic, yes lots of costs that a lot of people forget about when they just see the price of the meter.

@The Stigg .. he did a breakdown of the costs and fully explained them in the vid .. hence my comments regarding the running costs .. not the vehicle purchase cost.