Where do we stand...

bass3k

Me and some friends run a site as a hobby, we have affiliate links to several sites like Amazon that are used intermittently but help cover some of the hosting costs which are getting increasingly high as time goes by.

On top of this we sometimes get sent review items, promotional gear and what not which we talk about on the site, and do not make any money from/pay any money for.

From our POV it is a hobby, but we're growing concerned that there may come a point when it becomes a business. Has that point come from the above? Or are we ok for now? Essentially money is going out out out out out, and from time to time Amazon will send us affiliate scheme money from people buying items through their link.

As a secondary question:

If we for example have a 'community meetup' in a pub and ask community members to donate towards the costs does this class as charging for an event and therefore mean we'd be selling entrance to an event? Or does that only make a difference if we sell tickets?

Does a meet up like that require event insurance etc? Or is the pub covered?

Tertiary question:

If we decided we wanted to start running events, and had money making ideas (eg we have some podcasts on the site, and were considering 'premium content' to help cover some of the costs) therefore making it a business - what sort of costs would be involved in that?

I've done a lot of reading but can't really find a clear answer. We've had conversations and some advice suggests it would simply be filling in tax returns each year to show we're making a loss (and if we ever make a profit, we pay tax on that)

Other areas suggest that we'd need to be messing around with all sorts of registration fees and what not which make it sound off putting since it is just a hobby at the moment and already costs a lot as it is!

I read about 'unincorporated associations' - would that include a website/web community? The site is not too dissimilar to MSE, just news/reviews/articles/podcats/forum. (I've kept the name off as this is by no means an advert! I just need advice)

Any advice/questions welcome, will do my best to answer, but I am starting to realise how ignorant of all this I am.

InsideInsurance

The day you placed advertisement on the site that had the potential to bring in revenue then it became a business and as such you should be registered as a sole trader and be declaring the details to HMRC. Obviously if you are making a loss then there will be no taxes to pay but the tax returns still need paying.

If they pay you for attending the event then you are selling tickets even if there arent any physical tickets issued. If they were to pay directly to the pub then it wouldnt be you selling anything. As to insurance, that comes down to the agreement between you and the pub (and arguably their insurers too)

Premium content can be done for free, though obviously you pay a transaction fee if you are accepting payments via cards. Obviously this assumes you have a reasonable level of technical skill and are happy for content not to be protected by a secure connection (payments obviously being taken offsite using PayPal or equiv).

If you arent technically minded enough to set up the site yourself with this functionality then a web developer would do it for a one off fee.


MSE is not a "community site", it is an incorporated business and was fairly recently sold for 87m with a large proportion of its revenue coming from affiliate marketing too. Don't let the consumer champion claims fool you into thinking it doesnt make massive profits.

Mistral001

With regard to the "community", it sound like a club really and perhaps you should set it up as such with a constitution. Many small clubs, such as motorbike or pigeon fanciers clubs operate this way so why reinvent the wheel so to speak. The constitution will give purpose of club and set out the rules by which the club will operate including finances. The members own the club by the way so you cannot be the boss.

bass3k

Thank you for the advice,

So what do we need to do? Decide what sort of way we want to register and go from there? Is there much paperwork? Does it cost to do? Are we better off closing it all?

bass3k

Edit - nevermind - the information I had found was 2 years out of date