Payment for work

Drjohn700

Can I receive goods instead of money for work completed? Sounds nuts but I am retired with very uncomplicated tax affairs. How would HMRC respond if I decided (say) to undertake work for someone and receive (say) a paid for holiday, or a set of golf clubs, or any item like this?.  Would I have to declare these goods during self assessment? Sorry to ask but I can’t find this answer under a general internet search.  As I said a bit nuts but it interests me
Many thanks

molerat

A taxable benefit in kind with a value that must be declared.  Think about it, what happens to people in employment who have cars supplied, medical benefit etc.

Drjohn700

Guessed that will be the obvious case. But ............I’m wondering though if HMRC wants to get involved in barters. I’ll do half a day consulting for you if you get my lawn cut 3x a year. Kind of a pain in the butt for them I feel. Like I said it’s a bit off piste and wondered if there was legislation or thresholds around the  value. Only came to mind because of the times we are in. I guess if 2 parties agree on a value then provided that value is not a p take they might be ok about it. Interested in all opinions and thanks for yours

Jeremy535897

There are two issues to consider for individuals: income tax and VAT. If you are not going to be registered for VAT, you only need to worry about income tax.

The basic rule is that if you are in business selling goods, you account for sales for non-monetary consideration at the value of that consideration, assuming the transaction is at arm's length. If you take goods for your own use, you account for them at market value.
The barter of services at arm's length is also supposed to be accounted for at the value of those services. If you receive some golf clubs, their value is treated as the sale value of your services. In practice it is very hard for HMRC to uncover omitted bartering of services where no goods at all are involved. But if you provide services to members of your family, say, you don't treat the value as taxable.