Sole trader, several incomes

ericonabike

I took early retirement recently and have been looking to supplement my occupational pension by a variety of jobs. These have been, and will continue to be, ad hoc - I don't want and am not looking for permanent work. For example, I will be spending four week in France this summer as a tour guide. I am also looking for driving work locally. My question is - should I set myself up as a sole trader? My thinking is that this will act as an 'umbrella' to cover any sort of work that I do, without potential employers/clients having to concern themselves with tax and NI issues. It would mean completing a tax return each year, but I do not consider that a problem.

Anyone else have any experience, ideas, or suggestions as to other sources of information?

Pennywise

You can't decide to be a sole trader - HMRC have rules as to what constitutes a genuine business as opposed to employment. Having lots of different jobs doesn't make you a sole trader. It's the type of work you do. Have a look at HMRC's webpage about the difference between business and employment.

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/employment-status/index.htm

By the way, "self employment" means being in business, so it means the same as being a sole trader.

Also as per hmrc webpage:-

"Just because a worker is self-employed in one job, doesn't necessarily mean he or she will be self-employed in another job. Equally, if a worker is employed in one job, he or she could be self-employed in another."

ericonabike

Well yes - but the sort of work I'm looking at lends itself to self-employment and certainly for the French trip they will either take me on as self-employed, so that I invoice them, or as an employee, so that they put me on PAYE.