Self Employment Questions

slothinspace

Hi.

My head is in an absolute twist and I'm almost pulling my hair out trying to fully understand registering for self employment and whatnot and I'm hoping somebody on here can help.

Basically since around the end of April/start of May, I've had two sources of income. One was buying and selling on eBay which was making me about £100-£200 a month and the second one was adsense which was making about £50-£300 a month (got higher over the months) making it around £300 a month overall on average.

I've just recently considered the fact that I'm making enough money to be required to register up for self employment. Now I have absolutely no idea what to do and every article/advice I've read either contradicts each other and provides wrong advice or they are outdated.

So...here are the questions...

First of all, once I register up for self employment, do I need to also register up for self-assessment? Or is that "a part of" registering up for self employment?

Secondly, I was skimming though the self employment registration form and the very end question was "Capacity in which you are completing this form:". What exactly is this? What do I put?

If I register now do I have to submit a tax return for the previous year (2013-2014) considering that the deadline for that is 31st January 2015?

Also an important question...when mentioning how much income I have made in the tax return, how much detail is needed? Do I need to know how much money I have made every week of that year? Or every month?

I'll be extremely grateful if somebody could provide some help because I'm about as confused as a goat on astroturf.

Thanks

McKneff

Why don't you give HMRC a ring they will explain a lot of what you are asking and also
they will send you a self employed pack


Good luck with it.

PlutoinCapricorn

You have come to the right place.

First, if you have untaxed income from buying to sell at a profit from and online ads, you need to register as a sole trader. It is best to register online, or you can do it over the phone and get questions answered immediately.

Once registered, you will be required to fill in a self-assessed tax return - many people who are not self employed also do this.

Assuming that your earnings started after April 5th 2014, your first return will be for 2014/15, which will have a deadline of Jan 31st 2016 if you file online.

PlutoinCapricorn

Reading some of the posts on this thread is a good investment. Many people who start self employment have similar questions.

Your first tax return is a long time on the future, which gives you ample time to understand what to do. It is best to register for filing online: you should get something from HMRC when you are registered.

You need to keep good records of income and legitimate expenses, in case HMRC ever ask for supporting evidence. If you earn under £70k approx, HMRC will just want to know total income, total expenses and total profit.

addition: Cutting Tax and Small Business threads are also a good place to get information.

slothinspace

PlutoinCapricorn wrote: »

You have come to the right place.

First, if you have untaxed income from buying to sell at a profit from and online ads, you need to register as a sole trader. It is best to register online, or you can do it over the phone and get questions answered immediately.

Once registered, you will be required to fill in a self-assessed tax return - many people who are not self employed also do this.

Assuming that your earnings started after April 5th 2014, your first return will be for 2014/15, which will have a deadline of Jan 31st 2016 if you file online.

Thanks. Is registering as a sole trader the same form as registering as self employed? I would post the form link but I can't because I'm a new user.

PlutoinCapricorn

Self employed people who are operating as individuals are sole traders.

PlutoinCapricorn

In case you have not seen this, it looks useful to start with:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/leaflets/se1.pdf

slothinspace

PlutoinCapricorn wrote: »

In case you have not seen this, it looks useful to start with:

Thanks. I'll have a read of it.

Quick question. Do you pay the taxes you owe all at once at the end of the year? or do you just pay it as you get it

slothinspace

Also as I have started "trading" more than 3 months ago...will I be fined £100?

PlutoinCapricorn

You pay tax due in one or two installments each year, depending on how much you owe.

slothinspace

PlutoinCapricorn wrote: »

You pay tax due in one or two installments each year, depending on how much you owe.

Thanks. I'm starting to get pretty confident about it now. Really appreciate your help.

Another question (sorry haha)

Do you know if the tax return form is an actual form you complete online? Or do you have to fill in the paper form and then scan it?