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What can I claim against Tax as an Author?
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onthecase
Posts: 97 Forumite


in Cutting tax
Hello
I wonder if any of you lovely people could help me please.
I work full time in my "normal" job (PAYE) but have recently had my first fantasy horror novel published.
I haven't received any royalties yet, but I was wondering what I could claim against tax as an expense?
For example, I did print out the whole novel 4 times in order to have it proof read (254 x A4 pages) and have given away around 15 free copies of the printed book for promotion.
Can I claim any of these costs and is there anything else I can claim?
I understand that once my royalties start to come in (ever hopeful!) these will have to be recorded as an income, but as I am a long way from being anywhere near a JK Rowling any expenses I can offset would be welcome.
Any help very much appreciated!
Thanks.
I wonder if any of you lovely people could help me please.
I work full time in my "normal" job (PAYE) but have recently had my first fantasy horror novel published.
I haven't received any royalties yet, but I was wondering what I could claim against tax as an expense?
For example, I did print out the whole novel 4 times in order to have it proof read (254 x A4 pages) and have given away around 15 free copies of the printed book for promotion.
Can I claim any of these costs and is there anything else I can claim?
I understand that once my royalties start to come in (ever hopeful!) these will have to be recorded as an income, but as I am a long way from being anywhere near a JK Rowling any expenses I can offset would be welcome.
Any help very much appreciated!
Thanks.
0
Comments
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As a general rule, anything "wholly and exclusively for business purposes".
Certain things might have special rules applying to them.
Stationary and printing costs are fine.
Also consider a proportion of your household costs if you are working from home (Google for how to do his correctly).
The cost of any professional services (solicitors, accountants).
Any software you purchase to use in your work.0 -
TheCyclingProgrammer wrote: »As a general rule, anything "wholly and exclusively for business purposes".
Certain things might have special rules applying to them.
Stationary and printing costs are fine.
Also consider a proportion of your household costs if you are working from home (Google for how to do his correctly).
The cost of any professional services (solicitors, accountants).
Any software you purchase to use in your work.
Would the OP have to be registered as self employed to be able to make those claims? And as they currently have no SE income to be taxed is it OK to claim against tax paid through PAYE? Just asking for clarification as I don't know the answers, so the OP probably doesn't either.0 -
Would the OP have to be registered as self employed to be able to make those claims? And as they currently have no SE income to be taxed is it OK to claim against tax paid through PAYE? Just asking for clarification as I don't know the answers, so the OP probably doesn't either.
I don't know if self employed expenses can offset employed income, but you need to register as self employed for NI purposes, not tax purposes, once you begin trading.
For tax purposes you need to notify HMRC within 6 months of the tax year ending if yiu are chargeable to tax but as a consequence of registering as self employed HMRC will request a a self assessment anyway which has to be submitted regardless of whether you owe tax so expenses can be submitted then.
OP may not yet need to register as self employed, I'm not sure at what point an author is considered to be trading, if at all, but pre trading expenses are usually claimable.
It's possible that royalty income can be declared without being registered as self employed (is writing books and possibly receiving royalties trading from a tax point of view?) but I would check with HMRC to get their opinion on this. Even if income is declared in the "Other income" box there is also a box for expenses.0
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