How much can I put for expenses?

dbdragon

Last year I earnt about £1000 doing street shows for an agency as a breakdancer/actobat on the weekends during the summer. I've kept all my receipts (petrol, food, hotels) so I can calculate how much expenses I could put down against my tax on the forms.

However, if I include the cost of petrol for travelling to training practice every week during the period when I'm not performing (which I need to do to keep fit and in condition all year round) it all adds up very quickly and is a lot more than I earnt doing the job (which I don't mind as this is my hobby which I would do anyway if I didn't do the shows).

So can I put this down on my expenses as "training" as it is necessary for the job? Or can I only put down the expenses that I used during the days I worked? The way I see it is that I must do the practices / training for the performances otherwise I wouldn't be able to do it.

If I do include those costs then would they be suspicious of why I am still doing this business if I am not proffiting?

I also work full time during the week so have already earnt more than the non-taxed earnings limit.

Hope it made sense

dbdragon

If the above post didn't make much sense then here's an example. Imagine you did karate 3 times a week at £5 a session. You get offered a job for 6 weeks doing demos/teaching during the weekends at £100 a weekend so you can still do your karate classes during the week.

So in a year you spend: 52 X 3 X £5 = £780 just to train karate which is essential for the job you do on those weekends.

And you earn in that year 6 X £100 = £600 doing the demos.

Therefore, you have made a loss of £180 on the forms.

Could you do this or would you only be able to put down the expenses that you used on the weekends for the job?

Hope it's bit clearer this time with the point I'm trying to make

Thanks

fengirl_2

The training is part of the business and so you need to include these expenses in your accounts. the loss can be offset against your PAYE income.
The only possible downside to this is that if you continue to make a loss year after year, HMRC may decide that this is a hobby and disallow the losses.

dbdragon

Thanks. That clears things up a bit now. The agency that I did the work for said that I needed to be registered as self-employed and sort out the tax myself. I'll put it down as a loss then this year and see if they say much about it. If they do then I'll just have to explain it to them and let them make the decision.