Please Help. I know Nothing about Tax. Is my part time job worth it?

noseypoots

Hi
I have just set up a dog walking business. I only expect to have a turnover of about £1200 a year. I have a 'real job' too and pay normal rate tax on it. The dog walking is just for extra cash - I just do it after work. I have no idea what I do abou tax. I know most people just keep quiet about this sort of thing, but I want to do it properly. Obviously, I can't afford an accountant if I will only make about £100 a month. Please can someone point me in the right direction? Is it worth doing, or am I going to loose every penny of my £100 a month in tax or accountants fees? Please can someone help?
Thanks

suso

if the 1200 £ is turnover then you can deduct expenses and only pay tax on the profits.

even if there is no expenses then tax on 1200 £ would be 240£ (presuming you are a basic rate tax payer)

Pumpkinface_2

noseypoots wrote: »

Hi
I have just set up a dog walking business. I only expect to have a turnover of about £1200 a year. I have a 'real job' too and pay normal rate tax on it. The dog walking is just for extra cash - I just do it after work. I have no idea what I do abou tax. I know most people just keep quiet about this sort of thing, but I want to do it properly. Obviously, I can't afford an accountant if I will only make about £100 a month. Please can someone point me in the right direction? Is it worth doing, or am I going to loose every penny of my £100 a month in tax or accountants fees? Please can someone help?
Thanks

I would suggest you register for self assessment and declare it as casual earnings. I am sure this does not justify employing an accountant to do this for you. You will pay either 20% or 40% tax on the income.

noseypoots

That's great thanks. Sorry to be a pain, but I've got a few more questions.

1) So if I register for self assessment, is it easy to figure out what I can claim as expenses? Also, does this mean I will have to do a self assessment every year of my life even though I am only planning to do this for a year or two?

2) If I claim casual earnings, does that mean I don't have to notify the tax people that it is a business? I just do a tax return next time they are due?

3) I drive to get there, so can I claim something for the petrol and for the depreciation to my car? If so, how do I figure out what and can I still do this myself without needing and accountant? I am relatively intelligent, got a degree etc, but NOT great at maths!

Stupid question, but if my 'real job' pays about 30k I'd just pay 20% on the extra money is that right? Do I need to tell my employer, or does the self assessment sort all that out.

A massive THANK YOU again for your help

Pumpkinface_2

If you decide to follow my suggestion and declare the income as casual earnings, you just need to report it as other UK Income on the self assessment form when it is due.

I suggest you refer to page TRG13 in the attached link, this also covers the nature of allowable expense. I cannot imagine you would have much qualifying expense in a dog walking business. You might be able to charge business mileage but you certainly would not be able to depreciate your car.

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/worksheets/sa150.pdf

Once you are in the self assessment system you will do a return every year until HMRC writes to you and tells you that you don't need to. This can happen, it happened to me once when I stopped working for a short while.

Yes if your other income (earnings, savings etc) is about £30k then you would be still be in the 20% tax band and that is what you would pay on this income. I don't see any reason why you should have to tell your main employer.