Declaring tax on what is potentially a one off piece of work?

Gaaraz

Hi all,

I work full time in a public sector job, and around a year ago did some work for a friend’s business which he paid me and also sorted all of the tax for. But now he’s entered work full time and folded the company – and I’ve been approached to do just a small amount of work on the same project again.

I’m just wondering what the tax implications of this are? It’s probably only 12 hours work, so being realistic if I have to register as self employed etc I’ll likely just do it for free – though of course that isn’t ideal.

Is there a simple way I can just declare I earnt X amount extra and want to pay tax on it? I’m definitely not in any danger of extra complications such as the higher tax bracket.

Many thanks

Pennywise

If it's a "one off" and you don't want to claim any expenses against the income, just phone HMRC and tell them it's a "one off" casual income and they should simply adjust your PAYE tax code for it, meaning no need for registering self employed, no need for self assessment tax return, etc. You'll just pay a bit more tax via your employment payroll (x per month).

Gaaraz

That sounds absolutely perfect, thank you Pennywise! This could actually happen 2, maybe 3 times a year but realistically it could also be the last piece of work, so if it's a simple phone call that's definitely preferable

Pennywise

Gaaraz wrote: »

That sounds absolutely perfect, thank you Pennywise! This could actually happen 2, maybe 3 times a year but realistically it could also be the last piece of work, so if it's a simple phone call that's definitely preferable

But you've now changed the goalposts. Originally it was a single piece of work, now it's 2/3 times per year. You'd have to phone HMRC each time to give them an update as otherwise they wouldn't know. Also, doing it more often tends to suggest something other than a "one off" meaning more likely you'd have to register as self employed and complete self assessment tax returns.

zygurat789

Pennywise wrote: »

But you've now changed the goalposts. Originally it was a single piece of work, now it's 2/3 times per year. You'd have to phone HMRC each time to give them an update as otherwise they wouldn't know. Also, doing it more often tends to suggest something other than a "one off" meaning more likely you'd have to register as self employed and complete self assessment tax returns.

Then you can claim expenses and make it all worthwhile

Gaaraz

Thank you! Like I said it is very likely to be a single piece of work, but if it does turn out to be more than that I can go the self employed route, but until I know for sure I’d be a lot happier just making the call as frankly it sounds like a lot less hassle

Thanks!