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"Self-employed?"

Dear Sir or Madam,

I need to register myself as self-employed in the next couple of weeks but I still have a few questions. Do we have any sole traders on the forum or do you all work for "the man"? I have a few questions about business accounting too but Smedlos hasn't been online for awhile.

Yours faithfully,

Machie

Good advice, thanks Garin :) (and Hmmm for earlier)

Is it worth having an accountant do the work for me? As long as I stay on top of things it doesnt really seem that much work. Still I wonder if the cost would justify the savings they might bring me. How much do you think they charge?

Another question please, lets say I own a gaming website and Sony decide to send me a PS3 (not for review or anything, lets say its because I was one of the few lucky ones to complete FF VII). Would I have to report that gift as an income on my taxes? What if someone who visits my site sends me a gift for my birthday, would I have to report that too?

Machie wrote:
> Is it a good idea to have a seperate bank account for my business
> and personal use then? :) And is it okay if I dont have it as a
> business account at the bank? As I hear they like to charge you
> for simple things like writing and paying in cheques :S

Depends how complex your finances are going to be and your personal circumstances. I wouldnt initially simply because of the hassle you'll get from them. :)

Is it a good idea to have a seperate bank account for my business and personal use then? :) And is it okay if I dont have it as a business account at the bank? As I hear they like to charge you for simple things like writing and paying in cheques :S

Hmmm... wrote:
> Sounds like you've got a lot of reading to do ;¬)

I did business in school so I'm lucky that I'm familiar with most of it :) Still it was 12 years ago so I'm a bit rusty.

> If you register as Self Employed/Sole Trader then all the money
> goes straight to you - only if you register as a Limited Company
> (or some of the other partnership things) do you pay yourself a
> salary.

I thought it did but then it didn't seem like a good idea. I guess as a sole trader I have a lot of freedom but theres a lot of risk with it too.

> Has your Language Site or Anime site started earning money for
> you now?

Not yet, though I kinda left all this to the last minute so I'm playing catch up. Things are looking good though :)

Sounds like you've got a lot of reading to do ;¬)


If you register as Self Employed/Sole Trader then all the money goes straight to you - only if you register as a Limited Company (or some of the other partnership things) do you pay yourself a salary.

Has your Language Site or Anime site started earning money for you now?




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Yeah I'm going through their Business Link site making lots of notes and organising everything I need to do.

One thing Im still not sure of, or perhaps I havent got to it yet. Is how do I pay myself. I don't think I'm allowed to just take £xxx out of the business account each month and say thats my salary. I'm not sure if theres more I have to do.

Machie wrote:
> Lets say pb decides to start a Sci-Fi website, everything you
> could possibly want to know about Dr Who, Star Trek etc. Could pb
> deduct any Sci-Fi magazines, Sci-Fi dvds from his taxes as
> research for his business?


Sounds like allowable expenses...
So as long as you keep all the receipts you would be able to claim it when completing your tax return.

Check out www.hmrc.gov.uk for the ins and outs of Self Employment.



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Garin wrote:
> Machie wrote:
> Do we have any sole traders on the forum
>
> We do.

Excellent. :)

I have many questions but I'll start with this one. Hopefully someone might know the answer.

Lets say pb decides to start a Sci-Fi website, everything you could possibly want to know about Dr Who, Star Trek etc. Could pb deduct any Sci-Fi magazines, Sci-Fi dvds from his taxes as research for his business?

I trade souls.




sorry.

Machie wrote:
> Do we have any sole traders on the forum

We do.