wanting to sell homemade items - what to do about tax etc - NEED HELP!

rocketqueen

Hello All

Firstly sorry if this is in wrong forum.

I am looking to sell handmade items on etsy and ebay, I have the products ready to go.

My question is on what I need to do about declaring tax as I want everything to be above board.

I earn over the tax threshold in my full time job, the crafting is just for extra money but I understand I need to register as self employed too.

Will this have implications on my wages/tax in my normal job?

Do I have to set up all the tax stuff BEFORE I can list any products for sale, or do I have 3 months to sort this out (as different sites say different things.)

I'm completely confused by all this so any help very much appreciated.

ElefantEd

No implications on your wages or taxes in your normal job. You'll need to register with HMRC - do this ASAP, there's no point waiting. You'll have to fill in an annual self-assessment, which you can do online. Essentially you'll have to pay tax on your profits - so if your components and other allowable expenses cost you £500 and you sell the final items for £1200, you'll be paying tax on £700 (at the basic rate unless this somehow takes you into the next tax bracket but I suspect this isn't likely!). It doesn't take long to do the online form. Just make sure you keep careful records of your outgoings and your income to make it easy for yoruself - a simple spreadsheet or even handwritten notes are perfectly adequate.

The self assessment includes all your earnings (from your other job, interest from savings etc) but as you'll have already paid tax on these at source, the net effect is zero.

rocketqueen

Thank you that was a very helpful reply. You've made it sound much easier then anything else I've read!