Full time job & also want to keep some livestock

KarlD

I work as a computer engineer at present, however most of my life i have been involved with farming. I dont plan to take up farming officially but keep my current computer job and perhaps keep some livestock as a hobby. e.g maybe 6-7 cows. Its just something that i have always lived with and therefore want to keep some form of this in my life as i get older. I am concerned though about what way i go about this, Obviously i will sort everything and get the cows registered with department of agriculture, its the tax side of things that concerns me. do i have to apply to be a small farmer? And also since i have a full time job currently will i be taxed differently if i own a small quantity of livestock? I hope someone in a similar scenario can give me some advice, thanks in advance for any replies.

Mikeyorks

KarlD wrote: »

do i have to apply to be a small farmer?

Resisting the temptation to query your height? You need to register with HMRC, as a business, if money is going to change hands? If you intend to sell the milk / sell any calves etc? If it is purely a hobby with no financial recompense ..... no need to do anything taxwise.

Assuming some money involved? You need to register within 3 months of setting up business. And you will need to complete an SA Return yearly. You will need to declare the business profits / losses in that .... but also complete the employment pages and show the figures (gross pay + tax deducted) from your P60. In effect (credit + debit) that will simply generate tax on your business element .... so no difference to your PAYE. Except .... if you're repaying a Student Loan it will tend to inflate the annual amount due.

If it's going to be a small herd of Charolais ... move to West Yorks .... and I'll gladly help (other than the wet and cold mornings!)

KarlD

LOL Thanks for the cheeky/pleasant! reply, i cant see there being any profit made at all from this and is basically just as a hobby. I have looked into hobby farming but i cannot find much details with regards to any UK regulations etc. Basically whatever i put into the farm i will get out of it, but wont make any profit. E.g buy calves then sell them on after a few years. I will work on this scenario aswell as keep on my current job. Hope this makes sense, under this scenario are you saying that i will need to declare this to HMRC, but there wont be any tax regulation involved etc?

Mikeyorks

KarlD wrote: »

E.g buy calves then sell them on after a few years.

Then sensibly you register as a business from the outset .... that way there's no misunderstanding with HMRC. And - any losses in the earlier years can be carried forward to offset (even any mild) profit in later years.

Bit of an irritant (not much more than that if you register and do it online) to do an SA Return each year .... but it gets you into the habit.

No Charolais?

Nosht

Pigs are easier kept than cattle.


N.