Registering with HMRC

richieb67

Hi All,

First a little bit of background. My wife and I have recently moved house and as a result our mortgage totals approx. £170k with 23 years remaining. I also changed jobs late last year and am fearing that my lack of sales may raise the possibility of losing my job and the mortgage being at risk.

We do have an emergency fund which would tide us over for a few months but I know it won't last forever and if I do get the boot, I really don't want to do another sales job as this experience will just prove that I'm not up to it - if I end up changing career my earnings are going to plummet.

So I've decided to be pro-active and going to start overpaying the mortgage even if it is by just a few quid per month for now and also would be keen to earn a bit of extra income in the evening from simple online work - surveys etc. and herein lies the problem.

I'm currently a higher rate tax payer with income on a PAYE basis. I've been lucky and have not been asked to do a tax return in years but the last time I did one it was a right pain in the backside so I'd prefer to avoid them if I can.

I appreciate that legally I'm obliged to notify HMRC if I decide to generate this additional income but if I do so what are the implications of doing so? How much would I have to pay in tax and am I going to have to get involved in doing a tax return?

Any advice from anyone with similar experience would be most appreciated.

kelloggs36

I would assume that your tax would be based on your tax-code and your profits. So, if you earned £1000 for a years' survey work online, and you earn under the 40% threshold, then you would pay 20% in tax plus the relevant NI conts - this would be the SE rate. If you have to pay out to earn, then take off any expenses linked to the job and then work out the profit, and you pay tax on it.

Sambucus_Nigra

richieb67 wrote: »

How much would I have to pay in tax and am I going to have to get involved in doing a tax return?

Any advice from anyone with similar experience would be most appreciated.

40% of profit. However you offset business costs to reduce the profit.

I have 3 different lines to complete under self assessment, and it takes about 30 mins to do. If you keep records as you go.