Second job as freelance translator

mp900

Hello everyone,


I am currently on a 20K ( incuding bonusses ) salary x year, I got offered a second job as emergency translator.
This second job would be as freelance and the estimated earning will not be more than 5K x year.


I'd like to know how would this work from a tax point of view, I have few questions:

• Based on the 2 earning figures mentioned above, will I end up paying hell of a lot of taxes/NI having 2 jobs?
• What are the steps to follow to set me up as freelance?
• For this second job, is there an income limit I can stay under to avoid paying taxes?

Any suggestion will be much appreciated.


:wave::wave:

Thanks

DigForVictory

If you freelance through an agency, they can sort a tax code out reliably (or so you could reasonably hope) - if not, you may be emergency rated Every Contract - but you can claim that back with the annual return.

I'd note that you may also work overseas translating into English, so you may really need a good accountant.

For several choices of advice google "hmrc freelance translator" & have a browse, but I'd certainly tell HMRC about the second job even if it's wildly intermittent as better to get a refund back than be investigated on the job you forgot to mention. Penalties clock up expensive.

All the best!

CLAPTON

mp900 wrote: »

Hello everyone,


I am currently on a 20K ( incuding bonusses ) salary x year, I got offered a second job as emergency translator.
This second job would be as freelance and the estimated earning will not be more than 5K x year.


I'd like to know how would this work from a tax point of view, I have few questions:

• Based on the 2 earning figures mentioned above, will I end up paying hell of a lot of taxes/NI having 2 jobs?
• What are the steps to follow to set me up as freelance?
• For this second job, is there an income limit I can stay under to avoid paying taxes?

Any suggestion will be much appreciated.


:wave::wave:

Thanks

if you are genuinely freelance and being paid gross then
-your day job tax and NI will be unaffected
-you need to tell HMRC that you will have additional earning
-the tax on the £5000 will be at 20% i.e. 1000 p.a.
and on those earning you pay no NI

if you start working this tax year (i.e. before April 2017) then you will need to complete a tax return and pay tax due by end of January 2018

agrinnall

The emergency tax code is 1100L so if you work through an agency and are put on that for your extra work you will underpay tax. Because you already earn above your personal allowance the extra work should have a BR tax code allocated, meaning the whole amount that you earn will be taxed at the the basic rate of 20% (which is correct).

NI is more difficult to assess in advance as it's only calculated in the period when you are paid. If your extra earnings were spread evenly through the year then you'd be under the LEL so would have nothing to pay, but if you are paid (for instance) £1000 five times a year then you'll have to pay NI at the appropriate rate.

If you are really freelance then you'll need to register with HMRC as self employed and pay whatever the appropriate tax and NI rates are (tax should be the same but NI will be different). It's unlikely that earnings of £5000 would make possible tax avoidance measure such as setting up a limited company viable options.

Start here and work your way through.

https://www.gov.uk/working-for-yourself

Savvy_Sue

DigForVictory wrote: »

... but I'd certainly tell HMRC about the second job even if it's wildly intermittent as better to get a refund back than be investigated on the job you forgot to mention.

I'd also recommend checking what your main employer says about second jobs: our t&c say we must inform our manager and mustn't do anything which would affect our work there (so doing a night shift on a second job and turning up for a demanding day at the office would be a no ...)