Potential 1st Self-employment

Amylittles

Hi all,

Please be patient with me as I'm new to all of this!

I was employed full time as an employee on a contract basis for nearly 2 years. That contract has now ended and I am possibly looking to accept a new contract, this new one however is on a self-employment basis only.

I was looking into paying for an accountant but as the contract is only for four months, I was hoping some of my nagging questions could be answered here?

1 - If I take on this contract, I will have to relocate to London and pay for a room as I will be working on-site. My question is; does this fall under something I can claim tax relief on as this wouldn't be my permanent residence? I will be going back home most weekends.

2 - My PAYE role ended on May 31st, what percentage of my monthly "income" is a safe amount to put away for self assesment for both tax and NI. (Income will be in the lower bracket i.e. below £40,000). I've read that 25% of total income per month is a good start?

3 - Is it best to just register as a sole trader? As I won't be purchasing any goods to trade with, I'll just be providing a service so to speak.

4 - As well as renting a room whilst working on the contract, I will need to travel to and from the site. Is this also something I can claim tax relief for?

I will probably have more questions, but I would be super grateful if you experts could help clarify the above for me!

Thanks :beer:

MovingForwards

https://www.gov.uk/expenses-if-youre-self-employed

This is a helpful starting point.

Amylittles

MovingForwards wrote: »

This is a helpful starting point.

Thanks, I've had a look through all HMRC material before posting

My questions are oddly specific haha