Can I run a stall

lauhen

I wondered if anyone could help, I am clueless and wondered if I could run a stall at some Xmas fairs without being a business, I know to many the answer will be obvious, but to me it's not. I have been searching for an answer online and I can't find one for looking.

Thankyou

dottygirl

Hi sorry I dont know the answer part of me thinks you can. Look at the car boots. You may want to try this question on the small business thread x

lauhen

Thankyou, I didn't know there was such a thread.

jemb

Depends on the size of it I guess. It'll be to do with tax purposes

donquine

lauhen wrote: »

I wondered if anyone could help, I am clueless and wondered if I could run a stall at some Xmas fairs without being a business, I know to many the answer will be obvious, but to me it's not. I have been searching for an answer online and I can't find one for looking.

Don't worry, it's actually not that straightforward, so not a stupid question to be asking!

What kind of stall are you thinking of running?

If you're getting rid of odds and sods you already own and it's a one off, chances are, HMRC won't regard it as a trade. If however you've bought items to sell (bulk lot of Christmas stockings off eBay) and/or you've made items to sell (Snowman Soup), you never intended to keep them for personal use (who needs 100 Christmas stockings and 100 portions of Snowman Soup?) and were always planning on trying to make some extra pennies for Christmas this way (crafting for profit, not just pleasure), it sounds a lot more like a trade, i.e. a business with paperwork and tax to sort out.

If of course you're just helping out a group of Brownies or your child's school make some extra pennies through your crafty skills and you're not actually intending on pocketing any cash, it's going straight back into a local good cause, that's a different kettle of fish. HMRC aren't going to come after a bunch of kids and demand a cut! There's no view to profit in that circumstance, it's just fundraising for, oh, I don't know, a trip to the Christmas panto or a new roof.

There are lots of different factors in determining whether or not someone is trading, but the above should hopefully give you something to go on.

LJM

if you are selling handmade goods for personal gain then i think you would need insurance,i know when i applied for craft stall they wouldnt allow me to take a stall with out showing my craft insurance details,though as above poster said if it is for charity/school or car boot odds and sods then you may be ok. i personally would ask around did you have somewhere in mind that you wanted to set a stall if so ask them if you need it

sleepyme

I have sold at several events in the last few years and on some occasions they have asked to see my business insurances and one even asked for my company number.