Have I started my own Biz by accident?

sunsetgirl · 28 November 2005 at 2:25PM

Firstly, sorry if this is posted on the wrong board.

I am a stay at home mum with a toddler and have started making hand sewn craft items at home as a hobby and for christmas pressies.

My mum suggested putting some on ebay for christmas spending cash and well they are doing very well and have had 16 sales with more sales expected.

Now I am concerned that By doing this I am running a biz from home and will be liable for all sorts.

I claim tax credits and i am keeping a note of any profit made for the tax office as i will let them know as I don't want to get fined.

What constitutes running a biz from home? and should I be aware of anything else? ....Its not vast amounts of cash I'm talking about so I will have stop if it wont be worth the hassle and charges etc.

I would really apreciate any helpfull advice

many thanks

soolin · 28 November 2005 at 4:41PM

Technically if you make things to sell you are running a business and profits should be decalred to the tax man. In reality though your declarable profits will be minute, by the time you take into account materials, post and packing, ebay and paypal fees, petrol to the Post office etc you could easily show an actual loss which would have the tax man running a mile!

Soo

black-saturn · 28 November 2005 at 4:49PM

Well done. I did a similar thing a while ago when I made a couple of tops which were goth style. So many people wanted one that I put some on ebay and they sold well. But I'm a bit too busy to keep it up as a business.

Cook_County · 28 November 2005 at 5:00PM

technically you are self-employed and so should register as such and claim the small earnings exception from class 2 NIC. However there will be little or no profit.

HMRC are checking ebay auctions to find folks who are trading and not declaring income for tax purposes. I believe that the government is finding this quite fruitful...

sunsetgirl · 28 November 2005 at 7:14PM

thanks for the advice, I will be letting the tax office know asap.

silverbirch_3 · 28 November 2005 at 8:03PM

please note that even if your not earning enough to pay tax, you must register with the tax office within 3 months of starting a self employed business otherwise they will fine you £100. Many avon sales leaders discover this when its too late as avon never think to pass on this info to new sign ups.

southernscouser · 28 November 2005 at 8:07PM

I know everyone is gonna slam me for this but I'd keep quiet! Unless you start making a small fortune out of it what they don't know won't hurt them!

sunsetgirl · 28 November 2005 at 8:32PM

Other people have said the same thing to me, but I couldnt pay the £1000 fine if I was caught so I will have to be honest!

bridiej · 29 November 2005 at 1:35AM

sunsetgirl wrote:

Other people have said the same thing to me, but I couldnt pay the £1000 fine if I was caught so I will have to be honest!

Good on you :T

MDUK · 29 November 2005 at 2:09AM

I agree, good luck, perhaps things will take off and you will find you can run a busines around your homelife that earns you enought to be doing it.

sunsetgirl · 29 November 2005 at 9:14AM

should I let the bank where I have our morgage know that I am selling handcrafted items on the internet? and what about house insurance? All that is involved in the making of my items is a needle and thread and sitting cross legged on the setee while my toddler plays on the carpet with his cars!

Thanks for all the good advice

Have I started my own Biz by accident?

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