Some Q's on being employed & Self employed

Sparky83

:)Hi all,

Hope this is in the correct section.

Im currently employed with a company, im and Electrician, but as we get lots of time off due to the shifts we work i'd like to do work in my spare time to help suppliment my income. So what do i need to do?

I have previously beeen self employed but only for a very short space of time and im not sure how i need to go about this, can i be employed and self employed at the same time?

Will my income from my PAYE job be looked at also when it comes to paying tax or will that carry on as normal and i just pay extra tax on the other income?

Am i able to claim for stuff like i could when self employed before? tools, materials, petrol, buying a van etc etc

I rely on my main income to pay my bills etc, which it just about covers! So i definatly do not want this to effect the money in get from that job, ie tax etc.

Any help will be great,

Cheers
Shawn (Sparky)

Hammyman

Yes you can be employed and self employed.

You need to phone up HMRC to register.

Your income from PAYE is added to your profit/loss from S/E then how much tax you owe is worked out and then the tax you've already paid through PAYE is deducted from the tax bill and then a bill or refund is sent out.

Yes, you claim for tools etc.

Sparky83

Right gotcha,

so even tho the 2 incomes are put together i'll still only be paying tax on the extra income as id have already paid the tax on my main regular income when paid by my company?

What about national insurance, does that stay the same as i obviously pay this on my regular wage.

McKneff

You should also check with your present employer if its okay to do this. It may be in your contract that youhave to have permission.

If it is and you dont, you'll be in trouble.

gemba123

Look at your contract of employment or check with your co to see if there is anything in there that stops you from doing this.
You can be employed and self employed at the same time but first need to contact the inland revenue to register as self employed.
At the end of the tax year you should fill in a tax return and as you have paid tax on your employed income any tax due on your self employed income will be calculated.
Yes you can claim for the expenses listed plus various others, but speak to accountant about these. There are some rules about capital expenditure ie the van and tools which can change from year to year.
Don't know much about the legislation surrounding electricians and what type of qualifications you need to carry out the work you'' probably know or will find out about these. Also you will need pl insurance etc.

Sparky83

McKneff wrote: »

You should also check with your present employer if its okay to do this. It may be in your contract that youhave to have permission.

If it is and you dont, you'll be in trouble.

Good thinking, had heard this before but completely forgot about it, Cheers!:T

gemba123 wrote: »

Look at your contract of employment or check with your co to see if there is anything in there that stops you from doing this.
You can be employed and self employed at the same time but first need to contact the inland revenue to register as self employed.
At the end of the tax year you should fill in a tax return and as you have paid tax on your employed income any tax due on your self employed income will be calculated.
Yes you can claim for the expenses listed plus various others, but speak to accountant about these. There are some rules about capital expenditure ie the van and tools which can change from year to year.
Don't know much about the legislation surrounding electricians and what type of qualifications you need to carry out the work you'' probably know or will find out about these. Also you will need pl insurance etc.

Im fully qualified so thats not a problem, PL insurance is a good point, but i think i need this for the Part P'ing of jobs anyway, 2million i think.

Thanks for the advice, i'll llok into it all.
Cheers
Shawn:T

Hammyman

Sparky83 wrote: »

Right gotcha,

so even tho the 2 incomes are put together i'll still only be paying tax on the extra income as id have already paid the tax on my main regular income when paid by my company?

What about national insurance, does that stay the same as i obviously pay this on my regular wage.

Yes, you're correct about the income tax. You would have to pay Class 2 NIC which works out at £29 every 3 months.

PlutoinCapricorn

Many people top up their regular income with freelance work. Although your main employer might never find out about this, you do need to think about some possible problem areas. Your contract of employment may mention something about your freedom or otherwise to take on other work, and it is worth understanding why they may not be happy.

One problem is that you could too tired and distracted to concentrate on the main job. Another is that you could be using the resources for the other work: time, photocopying for example. Finally, you there may be a conflict of interest if you are doing work for a rival.

As for the figures, expenses etc: www.businesslink.gov.uk can be very helpful.

As you are already paying Class 1 NI, you won't lose anything by applying to be exempt from Class 2 provided that your self employment income is under a certain amount - around £5,000.