Do I set it up as a business or not?

septicgirl

Hi wonder if anyone has any advice.....

My husband and I are currently developing a website which will be a community / recommendation focused site. There is the opportunity to sell advertising space on the site. What we don't know is whether if we sell space we need to set up and register a business or just account for any additional income in tax returns to HMRC.

Any advice will be very much appreciated.

fengirl_2

By selling advertising space, you will be setting up as a business. You cannot register a business which is not a limited company. You need to inform HMRC that you are tradingin within 3 months of starting.

Bismarck

septicgirl wrote: »

Hi wonder if anyone has any advice.....

My husband and I are currently developing a website which will be a community / recommendation focused site. There is the opportunity to sell advertising space on the site. What we don't know is whether if we sell space we need to set up and register a business or just account for any additional income in tax returns to HMRC.

Any advice will be very much appreciated.

You will want to keep the monies in that relate to your business completely separate from your domestic accounts- for now I'd suggest a separate current account (joint). Keep entirely separate records and remember to keep details of everything you spend on your venture to set as start-up/ongoing costs to the business.

Yes you need to register the business as a sole-trader or partnership with HMRC within 3 months of starting and produce accounts for the business. You don't need to worry about becoming a ltd company just yet!

good luck