Working from home

Sky_Shrimp

PlutoinCapricorn wrote: »

Some people who are buying and selling use self storage lockers to hold their stock:

That's a good idea. I'll keep that in mind for the future, but I'll only be dealing with a few small boxes atm

Mistral001 wrote: »

Business is all about trust and hiding behind a virtual address will not inspire people/other businesses to trade with you.

That's true, but we all must start somewhere.

Aquamania wrote: »

Then you still need to discuss the matter over with your parents. Why would they have any issue with you giving HMRC your/their address??? Presumably you are already on the electoral register at that address.

If you are not having personal visitors to the property, what is their issue? Stock storage? Yes that could cause indeed cause issues with which they are not happy, so a rented warehouse is probably what you would need.

I'm on the electoral register. My mother doesn't want to be bothered by the idea in any shape or form. I wouldn't be able to finish a short sentence regarding it without being rudely cut off and ridiculed. This is fine as it's her house. Tbh, she dosen't care what I do as long as she doesn't miss her soaps on TV

Aquamania wrote: »

Most sole traders would use their residential address if they don't have a separate permanent business address.
Alternatively businesses may use the address of their accountant (with their permission and perhaps at a price)

I was told about this service. I'll change the business address to the accountant if/when I'm making enough to warrant the use of one.

Aquamania wrote: »

... and I'm sure your parents will have even more issues than they do now if they knew you were hiding yourself behind fake/dummy/virtual addresses.

She really couldn't care less. It's nice of her to allow this a while I'm staying there atm.

Aquamania wrote: »

.
I know if you were ever to knock me and then I had to spend my time & effort tracking down where you really hang out, then ... well, you can guess I'd be even less pleased when I or my appointed agents finally catch up with you.

That would never be a problem. I've sold occasional unwanted items on Ebay for years and have maintained 100% positive feedback, so the writing regarding my integrity is already on the wall for all to see

cte1111

How do you think your parents will be affected by you registering their house as your business address? In my experience, all it means is that you will get a couple of letters from HMRC. Presumably you already receive the odd letter or bill?

I can see why your parents might not want the house filling up with stock, people turning up to collect their goods, etc. However none of this will be alleviated by using a dummy 'business address' when registering as self employed.

Sky_Shrimp

Hi,

As Comeandgo stated, there could be a problem with the deeds, but the subject is closed for discussion in this house so I'll never know. Most of the stock I intend to sell are in my aquarium and whatever packaging I would use is hidden in the shed. It's just one of those things I guess. I'm going to phone some virtual office companies tomorrow for further advice. It's not bad for £6 per week.

tyllwyd

I work from home and we were thinking of moving to a rented house at one point. I wasn't sure if a landlord would be OK with me using their address as a business address and I was worried about post going missing if we moved on again after six months, so I looked into using a virtual office address, although in the end we didn't move so I didn't follow it up.

I couldn't find anything to say that it would be a problem from the point of view of the tax man. I didn't much like the mailboxes type of business, but I found that there are some serviced offices based around a large country house - type businesses that will give a 'nicer' looking address.

Or maybe it would be best to find some very small cheap office space - it isn't easy to find a one-desk unit, but they do exist, and if your relationship with your parents is a bit difficult it might be easier to keep out of their hair that way.