Self employed regestration Fine :(

gareth9358

Wondering if anyone can help

Basically i have just registered as self employed. I am just out of University and am starting up as a photographer.

I understood that you get a 3 month margin to register. Unfortunatly i am a month late and now i am told i have to pay £100 fine. I find this totally unfair and slightly crippling to my already low earnings. I only earn £850 a month so i dont think i will be paying much tax anyway. Can anyone suggest a solution to getting this fine wavered? They said i can appeal, but i am thinking that human error/not knowing is not an excuse.

It all seems a little harsh when people are trying to get on 2 feet for the first time.

thanks for reading my sob story, any suggestion?

Gareth

missyg_3

Hi, is there anything about when your "start date" is considered to be for tax/accounting purposes? Is it when you did your first shoot, issued your first invoice, received payment for your first job? Maybe there is some leeway there you could investigate which might bring you back inside the 3 months?

Otherwise I can only suggest writing the nicest, politest begging letter saying you misunderstood and as you are only a month late, would they consider waiving/reducing the fine.

Good luck with your career.

nrsql

You might also consider whether being self employed is a good idea for you.

mama4321

When I phoned to register as self employed I was told I would have a fine for doing it late, but never heard any more about it and was never fined. I had been told it is not often actually charged, and felt that maybe the people on the phone have to say it to cover themselves for the odd occasion when the fines are imposed (actually it was the first thing the girl said to me once I said why I was phoning - I was not impressed!!)

Timmne

nrsql wrote: »

You might also consider whether being self employed is a good idea for you.

OP just a note - I think what nrsql is saying is that you might want to consider incorporating....

DON'T DO IT!!

That's not a sweeping, uneducated answer by the way; I'm an accountant... Just wanted to make sure you don't get hasty and cause yourself a lot more work and costs by doing it.

Always remember there are lots of accountants/tax advisors on this board that can help you in t'future, for the MSE price of nothing of course!

In answer to your original question, I can't help I'm afraid as I don't specialise in tax - I can't see them refusing to waive it though, after a gentle letter.

Debt_Free_Chick

gareth9358 wrote: »

Basically i have just registered as self employed. I am just out of University and am starting up as a photographer.

I understood that you get a 3 month margin to register. Unfortunatly i am a month late and now i am told i have to pay £100 fine.

On what date did your business start?

On what date did you register with HMRC as self employed?

olly300

Timmne wrote: »

OP just a note - I think what nrsql is saying is that you might want to consider incorporating....

.

S/he is not saying that.

What I deduct from nrsql statement is that being self-employed involves doing a lot of paperwork and finding out how to do the paperwork properly so that you don't get into trouble with the Taxman.

Already being threatened with a fine from the Taxman is not a good start to being self-employed.

I suggest the OP investigates how to complete your tax forms i.e. what expenses you can claim, and who will help you for free. I know with some self-employed people (mainly people in the building trade) their local tax office does help them.

Sorry can't help with the registration query.

missyg_3

Yes, the info is out there and when I started I sent off for a publication from the Inland Revenue called "the right way to start your business", which was a good starting point.

OP seems like an honest person who wants to set up properly and just made a mistake! He simply asked for suggestions...

Gale_10

Hello

I phoned the inland revenue about my eBay business, a woman on there told me that even if I did get given the £100 fine for not registering S/E sooner, if I had earned less than £4,600 (profit) then I could write and let them know and it would be revoked.

Hope that helps.

Gale

gareth9358

i work on a full time basis for a photographic studio on a self employed basis as i am also seting up as a photographer. I invoice the studio for my months work £850

so i first recieved payment at the end of July.

I hope they do waiver it. I thinking up my best most grovelling letter. I have signed up for a self employment class which will help me with all the complex things. I am happy going SE. its how it going to be for the rest of my career so i may as well start now.

One other thing, if im only earning £850 a month plus the occasional cash in hand job for my own work to start with, how much should i be putting aside for my tax in april? lets say i earn £1000 a month on average.

cheers people, appreciate your input

Elaine_Wilson

Can you be a bit more specific about when you told HMRC your business started?

The first months money was received at the end of July. If that was for work done in July then I would assume you started your business at the beginning of July. In which case you would not be liable for the penalty.

Or did you actually start in June?