I was watching an interesting discussion from a Tax expert on the TV this morning, apparently the UK Govt. is investigating sellers on Ebay, Amazon and other such online sites to find unregistered sellers, not people clearing out their loft or shed but those, in our case, selling guitars and CD's or other accessories online or at Fairs and markets.

.

You can register online here:

https://www.gov.uk/set-up-sole-trader

 

The chances are if you are, like me, only selling a few items here and there and not making much money, you will still have to register yourself and you probably won't have to pay any extra Tax or National Insurance at all but it is an offence not to be registered as a Sole Trader, most advertise online or attend markets and are easy to trace.

 

If any experienced sellers out there have any further advice post here, I will post my response from Gov.UK when I hear anything, and hope hey don't mind if I missed the last end of tax year last October since I started selling guitars..never mind the CD's..;-)

Views: 487

Replies to This Discussion

Well yeah but bear in mind if you register yourself as a trader/small business and also have another job you'll go on to the higher basic rate tax... although of course all my sales go through the books ;-)

I have recorded all my sales since I started building guitars to sell in 2013  and hope they won't breathe on me too much as I am now unemployed, but yes interesting point.. :-)

Unemployed...earning money on the side? Be careful...getting nailed for that may be more painful than the tax issues. Of course if you register as a sole trader, that's your benefits affected or even out the window...you've got a job...

not claiming anything yet, if I do I will declare my meagre earnings  :-)

I could be 'retired'  ...?

I've always been self-employed so it's not an issue for me,  but take it from me, it can be pretty unpleasant dealing with HMRC and having them in your home and going through your books, even as a routine visit. You do keep annual accounts don't you? If you don't and you are turning any sort of money...you do need to start keeping your paperwork in order. And dealing with them over VAT is truly frightening....they play very hard ball.

To add to the mix, have you got public liability and product liability insurance? You need it if you are trading at outside events or having people visit you in relation to any business trading you are doing. 

Of course, if it's just a hobby, then there's no worry, but if you have a trading website and / or a continuous sales presence on eBay, I think that in future HMRC will start taking more of an interest in trying to pry money from people earning money this way. Deep Joy.

thanks for the advice CJ, whatever happens its best if you go to them rather than they find you....  ;-)

Basically sole trader looks just like another term  for self employed. I was self employed a few years before my health problems. I did my own taxes, self assessment, kept spreadsheet records etc of students times, dates etc ( I was teaching guitar).

From link, if you register as sole trader, looks like same thing. You will be required to keep records, a note of money in and money out ( expense of building guitar etc, and price sold for). Once your name is officially " on the books", you will be expected to provide records if asked for. Got to ask, is it worth it? Its  OK if you have a going concern, regular money etc, and you want to be honest etc. But if you are only making a wee bit cash now and then, might be more hassle than its worth. But if making a a few hundred a week, of course better to declare it, from moral and personal standpoint. Just my penny worth, guys. I'm not a builder or trader, just got the experience of self employment for few years.

Sole trader is just a conventional term - it means trading as an individual, rather than trading as a limited company or partnership, what we'd call being "self employed" - it's the same thing. If you go that route from being on benefit, you've effectively removed yourself from being available for work and the associated financial benefits of being unemployed, and you will be liable for calculating and making your income tax payments and for paying NI contributions. Even Deeper Joy.

I think, like CJ says, they are after trying to prise money from everywhere they can, but laws is laws - is it worth it ?   ...will let you know ;-)

my accounts are all up to date and ready though if they come knockin' ..

Have a listen to this weeks Money Box live on BBC radio 4. i think that will answer you questions

David

Hi Everyone

Looking at the various comments and having been in business for over 30 years with my main business i comment as follows

It is better to set up a legitimate business and in your start up you can include all your set up costs providing they are for that business.

Although i do not do much trade in the CBG trade i have a band i play in and i teach people to paint pictures as well as my kitchen business 

Regardless of how many businesses you have or indeed none at all you are accountable for all your income regardless 

of how little you are making.

Please also remember sites like this will also have inspectors tralling through the forums to check people out 

To be fair ( cannot believe im saying this lol) you will get allowances for home use, car use, all your power tools etc are tax deductable but you will also have to declare what you have in stock , how many guitars etc what there saleable value is .

If i earn £100 for a gig from my band as my share i declare that also .

You cannot get away from it , ive even heard of inspectors turning up as a punter to gigs and phoning people to ask how much a guitar is to get an indication as to your earnings .

Also remember they gather their evidence before they call you up it is up to you to " prove " otherwise.

I have had a vat inspection twice and although they are pleasant and helpful they are there to check you .

many thanks for the info Ian!  :-)

 

RSS

The Essential Pages

New to Cigar Box Nation? How to Play Cigar Box GuitarsFree Plans & How to Build Cigar Box GuitarsCigar Box Guitar Building Basics

Site Sponsor

Recommended Links & Resources


Discussion Forum

Pink Toothbrush Alternative Market & Record fair

Started by Keith 66. Last reply by Keith 66 Apr 24, 2023. 1 Reply

Small box woes?

Started by Sleepy John. Last reply by Jock MacHinery Jun 15, 2020. 12 Replies

Newby

Started by David Tarry. Last reply by David Bowes May 11, 2020. 7 Replies

FX rigs and recommendations

Started by Alex Rigby Mar 25, 2019. 0 Replies

London One Man Band festival with Hollowbelly

Started by Blind Boy Fullers. Last reply by Blind Boy Fullers Mar 20, 2019. 4 Replies

Best Amp

Started by Seasick Mick. Last reply by Seasick Mick Mar 13, 2019. 18 Replies

Looking to play some festivals next year

Started by Alex Rigby. Last reply by Alex Rigby Jan 13, 2019. 3 Replies

New Site goes live!!

Started by John Pilling. Last reply by t-belly johnson Oct 30, 2018. 14 Replies

Demise of Gibson

Started by Sleepy John. Last reply by Sleepy John May 3, 2018. 3 Replies

boxes for sale

Started by Rick D. Last reply by Tony Dec 14, 2017. 5 Replies

My latest build - hubcap resonator

Started by Alex Rigby. Last reply by Slow Blues Dani & Ol' Grey Bear Oct 10, 2017. 4 Replies

My CBG

Started by Steve. Last reply by Steve Sep 13, 2017. 2 Replies

Some of my songs

Started by Alex Rigby. Last reply by Alex Rigby Jun 7, 2017. 2 Replies

School project

Started by Keith 66. Last reply by Michael Fred Johnson Feb 5, 2017. 8 Replies

Old Timers

Started by Mal Chilvers. Last reply by David L. Oct 13, 2016. 2 Replies

Looking to get started

Started by Hubert Knight. Last reply by Hubert Knight Oct 11, 2016. 6 Replies

I Could Really Do With A Jig !

Started by Philip Hale. Last reply by Philip Hale Aug 5, 2016. 19 Replies

Help with parts please

Started by Toofy Peg. Last reply by Fomhorach Jun 14, 2016. 19 Replies

Brass Eyelets - big ones - where to get?

Started by Alex Rigby. Last reply by Fomhorach Apr 27, 2016. 16 Replies

Music

© 2024   Created by Ben "C. B. Gitty" Baker.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service

\uastyle>\ud/** Scrollup **/\ud.scrollup {\ud background: url("https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/963882636?profile=original") no-repeat scroll 0 0 transparent;\ud bottom: 25px;\ud display: inline !important;\ud height: 40px;\ud opacity: 0.3 !important;\ud position: fixed;\ud right: 30px;\ud text-indent: -9999px;\ud width: 40px;\ud z-index: 999;\ud}\ud.scrollup:hover {\ud opacity:0.99!important;\ud}\ud \uascript type="text/javascript">\ud x$(document).ready(function(){\ud x$(window).scroll(function(){\ud if (x$(this).scrollTop() > 100) {\ud x$('.scrollup').fadeIn();\ud } else {\ud x$('.scrollup').fadeOut();\ud }\ud });\ud x$('.scrollup').click(function(){\ud x$("html, body").animate({ scrollTop: 0 }, 600);\ud return false;\ud });\ud });\ud \ua!-- End Scroll Up -->