I'm self employed, looking for help!

sprucegs

Hello all,
I hope you don't mind me posting.

I'm looking for a bit of reassurance really.
I'm in my mid 20s and since the age of 18 have been working in full time employment do various jobs. In early 2016 I unfortunately lost my job which was a shock and to be honest didn't know where to go. I'm lucky that I live at home and have no outgoings as such apart from the running costs of my car. When I lost my job after a coup,e of months of just having a bit of time to myself I was offered a bit of work on a farm doing various jobs, some weeks it would be a couple of days, the next a full week. It differed week to week. This suited me because at the time I was going through some personal problems. Anyway I registered myself self employed with a view to gaining more customers and building my confidence and experience. This didn't quite go to plan and I stuck doing work for this same person until recently. I'm about to do my first self assessment 2016 and my income is around 5000 for the year. And my income for 2017 to 2018 is likely to be the same if not less, as I had that one income up until August this year when I decided I didn't want to offer my services anymore and concentrated on gaining more customers. This is slowly building but I'm not earning a huge amount at all. Luckily I have good savings which I use when I'm short and like I said my only major outgoings are my vehicle.
I dont know why but I feel like because I'm earning so little and not paying tax that I'm somehow not worthy of being self employed. Im hoping that next year it really takes off now that I'm on the right track and things are good. Im just wondering if hmrc etc are going to take a dim view on me because of my little earnings for the last couple of years? Is anyone else in or has been in a similar situation?
Many thanks for reading all of that and I look forward to your replies.

Dazed_and_confused

HMRC are responsible for ensuring people pay the correct amount of tax and pay out some benefits such as tax credits and child benefit, they are not the countries moral judge and jury.

Providing you declare all of your income why would there be a problem?

If you read enough threads on here and the cutting tax board you will find you are not the only person not earning enough to pay tax. The tax free allowance is over £200/week now so plenty won't be paying tax.

Did you sort out any tax refund which might have been due when you stopped being employed?

steampowered

HMRC are not going to be interested in the slightest. There is nothing illegal about being a low earner. If you declare your earnings correctly there is nothing to be worried about.

Your earnings are extremely low. Could it be worth doing something else? Or perhaps doing a part-time job in addition to your self-employed work?

sprucegs

Thankyou for your help.

Steampowered I am looking into another job part time. I do alot of garden outdoor work so this time of year I can expect to be quiet. If things don't improve early next year I will be trying for a full time job.

Slinky

Do you remember to claim for things like 45p per mile for using your car for your business?

Do you advertise your services anywhere or are you relying on word of mouth. For gardening services, cards in post office windows, ads in parish/local magazines should work well and aren't expensive. Where I live self employed gardeners are pretty busy most of the time if they're any good. It just needs a while for you to find your regulars.

bugslet

sprucegs wrote: »

I dont know why but I feel like because I'm earning so little and not paying tax that I'm somehow not worthy of being self employed. Im hoping that next year it really takes off now that I'm on the right track and things are good. Im just wondering if hmrc etc are going to take a dim view on me because of my little earnings for the last couple of years? Is anyone else in or has been in a similar situation?
Many thanks for reading all of that and I look forward to your replies.

#
HMRC only care that you are legal and you are.

I started working for myself in 1991 and took around £100.00 a week then for the first two years ( obviously worth more then than now, but it was still low pay). My company turns over around 2 million now and I/the company pay a lot more tax now. With luck/graft, you will be earning more, paying more tax in the future.

Good luck.

sprucegs

Thanks for the encouragement . It's nice to know people have/ are in the same situation as me.
I advertise in local shops, I have a Facebook page, I have been leaflet posting but I must say word of mouth or friends of friends etc have been where I get most of my work.

Samsung_Note2

sprucegs wrote: »

Thanks for the encouragement . It's nice to know people have/ are in the same situation as me.
I advertise in local shops, I have a Facebook page, I have been leaflet posting but I must say word of mouth or friends of friends etc have been where I get most of my work.

Facebook can be great if you advertise on the selling pages.

Always have people asking for garden clearance etc...just make sure you have a waste carriers licence (its pretty cheap) if not already.

If your confident with tools..Handy man types seem to be short supply and seem to be able to charge decent rates,the chap we use normally charges £150 a day cash or will price per job if its something simple like hanging a door etc.

sprucegs

Facebook is great I regularly advertise on local groups. My first ever job came through Facebook. I have a waste carriers was free which is good!