Hobby doing nails - Is a business needed?

swift_gti

Hi all,
Hope this is the correct section for this question.
My wife is a co-director of our Ltd company, and takes a monthly salary from it - we both have an accountant complete self assessments for us each year.
Recently my wife has gotten into a hobby of doing nail art and would like to do this on other people, not really to make money - just for the enjoyment and to hone her skills.
She will charge a small fee to cover the cost of products used.
Now comes the question, does she need to do anything in terms of registering a business or notifying HMRC of this? 
I've looked up the guidance and I think (as she'd most likely be well below £1000 a year from this specific venture) that she wouldn't need to do anything, and that we just let the accountant know how much has been made so it can be included in the self assessment?

Sorry for the long post, but wanted to provide as much detail as I could.
Thanks!

jonesMUFCforever

I would think she would need public liability insurance 'just in case'?

Sandtree

Your paying for an accountant so why not ask their advice?

Assuming she has no other self employed activities and if revenue (not profits) is below £1,000 it generally wont need to be declared but its a 1 minute call to your accountant and then their PI insurance to back you up if their advice is wrong.

swift_gti

Thanks for the advice - that's a good call about checking with the accountant. I'll give them a call later today.
Insurance was going to be my next question - I assume it's possible to get this as a self employed person, even if the business is not registered in any way?

soolin

As above, insurance, insurance insurance - having seen a thread a few months ago on a facebook group getting something just a little wrong on someone and causing a problem can be hugely expensive!

swift_gti

Thanks soolin. This was exactly my thought when my wife first mentioned it.. definitely need some kind of insurance.
However I was a little confused on what/who gets insured if there is no business registered.
My experience from my Ltd company is that my business would be insured, but if there is no business as such, can my wife get insurance directly for these business like activities? 

Sandtree

swift_gti said:

Thanks soolin. This was exactly my thought when my wife first mentioned it.. definitely need some kind of insurance.
However I was a little confused on what/who gets insured if there is no business registered.
My experience from my Ltd company is that my business would be insured, but if there is no business as such, can my wife get insurance directly for these business like activities? 

The entity providing the service buys the insurance... so for your company its the Ltd and for a sole trader like your wife she buys it personally.

soolin

As above. It is possible to be a sole trader but not required to report to HMRC. If you wife remains under the £1000 PA from all self employed sources (and that’s pre expenses) then she is still trading but has no need to declare. 

swift_gti

Thanks all, that's been really useful.
One last question, around this: soolin said:

If you wife remains under the £1000 PA from all self employed sources (and that’s pre expenses) then she is still trading but has no need to declare. 

As she's already co-director and receives a salary (> £1000 PA) from our ltd company, this doesn't affect the £1000 threshold you mention above, as the ltd company is not a personal entity - therefore doesn't count to the "self employed" threshold?

Sandtree

swift_gti said:

As she's already co-director and receives a salary (> £1000 PA) from our ltd company, this doesn't affect the £1000 threshold you mention above, as the ltd company is not a personal entity - therefore doesn't count to the "self employed" threshold?

Still maintain to ask your accountant

As a co-director I’d expect the payment to be made to her as an employee and go through PAYE and so wouldn’t count towards her SE allowance of £1,000 of revenue but it all depends on your actual arrangements.

swift_gti

Thanks, I've already asked them just awaiting a response 
Appreciate everyone's advice on this, it's helped clear things up.