Self Employment help

[bella_nails]

Hi all,

I need some help, how easy is it to be self employed in the way of HMRC and sorting everything out?
Ive been reading loads of threads on here about self employment, but im not very good with numbers, maths etc and reading all this makes me think i cant do it as it all sounds so comlicated.
I know that i have to register with them, but its everything after that like tax. can you sort out how much tax you would owe at the end of each month or do you have to do it at the end of the year?

Im quite scared at the thought of it all. :Scared: HELP!

 

[loubylou]

It is no where near as scary as it seems,
you not be paying much tax if any after your first year as most business`s do not make a profit in the first year,
you get yourself 12 envelope folders and write each month on each of the folders, so January on one, february on another and so on until you have all 12 months, then in each of these you put all your receipts that you have spent on the business in each of the months,
that's your receipts sorted out.
Get a ring binder and every bank statement that you get through the year of trading put into the binder in date order,
save all used cheque books and paying in books.

Now for your takings,
all you need is a small writing book, put the date at the top and make a list of all treatments carried out on that day with the price you charged for each treatment then at the end of the day total it up.
then do the same for each day you are open for business, also note if the client has payed by cash, cheque or card, it will make it easier for you later on.

From a good stationery shop you need to buy the simplex D book, at the end of the year you transfer all the info that you have saved from your takings and expenses into the book (it has an example for you to follow and is self explanatory) then you hand the simplex D book, your folders of receipts and bank statements with used cheque books and paying in book to the accountant and he does the rest for you,
doing it this way is less work for the accountant so means he will charge you the minimum amount and submit it all to the tax man and work out your earnings and loses for the year hth

 

[bella_nails]

Thank Lou, the way you have worded it sounds quite easy. i prob wont get an accountant straight away just get my dad to help i think. is it easy to work out say at the end of each month how much you have earnt for yourself (like wages)??

x

 

[loubylou]

At the end of the month you need to work out all your overheads and see what you have left,
if you have enough left to pay yourself a wage then well done but if not don't worry, most techs don't take a wage in the first year or so,
you can apply for working tax credits as long as you are doing over 30 hrs work per week,
if you do manage to take a wage, you can have up to £80 per week tax free,
if you do your accounts as i have suggested your accountant should only cost you about £150 for the year, they are best at getting things through that we would not think of, so you do end up saving more than you would pay the accountant, hth

 

[VICKYBROOKES]

i thought u get working tax credits if u do over 16 hrs ? is it 30 hrs if u r not employed and self employed instead then ??

 

[donna'sdelights]

i thought u get working tax credits if u do over 16 hrs ? is it 30 hrs if u r not employed and self employed instead then ??

I called them regarding this and as long as you are working over 16hrs you can claim for tax credits the amount you get is dependant on what you earn hth

 

[loubylou]

i thought u get working tax credits if u do over 16 hrs ? is it 30 hrs if u r not employed and self employed instead then ??

If you want the maximum amount you have to do over 30 hrs,
if you do 16 hrs you get less money hth

 

[VICKYBROOKES]

oh rite ok cool thanks guys !!!!!!!!!! cos i went on entitled to.com and it said this was the case to .

 

[bella_nails]

If you want the maximum amount you have to do over 30 hrs,
if you do 16 hrs you get less money hth

Dont they take your partners salary etc into account aswell, i got told that if you earn more than 11k together, then we werent entitled to it. See i find all this stuff very confusing!!!

 

[Purple Rose]

Yes they do take your partners salary into account.

Also I hope you don't mind me hijacking this thread, but it seems abit pointless starting another one. Can you include all your receipts for equipment, training etc in your first year as I brought all this before I started going self employed, and am unsure whether I can put it all forward.

 

[loubylou]

Dont they take your partners salary etc into account aswell, i got told that if you earn more than 11k together, then we werent entitled to it. See i find all this stuff very confusing!!!

Yes they do take partners/all income into account, sorry i was talking as a single person, i do have another half but live on my own (ah bliss)

Yes they do take your partners salary into account.

Also I hope you don't mind me hijacking this thread, but it seems abit pointless starting another one. Can you include all your receipts for equipment, training etc in your first year as I brought all this before I started going self employed, and am unsure whether I can put it all forward.

You can include all this as it is your start up expenses, the only thing that you can not claim for is the first training course that you took im not sure why, this is some info i got from a friend that did a course with the inland revenue not long ago,
when you are self employed your local tax office offers free courses for book keeping and working out your tax and things, just give them a call and ask them about them as they are all free hth

 

[VICKYBROOKES]

does any one know if u can claim training expenses from before u registered if u know what i mean , as i had lots of training in feb time but am only just deciding to register self emloyed within the next few months after i qulify .

 

[loubylou]

Yes you can vicky but im not sure how you do this in the book keeping,
im just going to give all my receipts for training and products etc that i got before i started trading to the accountant and let him deal with them lol hth

 

[Missy G]

I highly recommend the Inland rev courses, I done my self assesment online recently , all seemed a bit scarey at the time , but it was quite straight forward...and I got a tax rebate..so was well impressed.

Pm me if you need any more details .:hug:

 

[Alibarr]

Hi all,

I need some help, how easy is it to be self employed in the way of HMRC and sorting everything out?
Ive been reading loads of threads on here about self employment, but im not very good with numbers, maths etc and reading all this makes me think i cant do it as it all sounds so comlicated.
I know that i have to register with them, but its everything after that like tax. can you sort out how much tax you would owe at the end of each month or do you have to do it at the end of the year?

Im quite scared at the thought of it all. :Scared: HELP!

Contact your local tax office to find out about courses for those about to go self employed. I went on a halfday one. It was easy to understand and explained it all. The course was quite informal and we actually had a laugh at times!!!

 

[Alibarr]

does any one know if u can claim training expenses from before u registered if u know what i mean , as i had lots of training in feb time but am only just deciding to register self emloyed within the next few months after i qulify .

From what I was told on my course you can't. You can claim start-up costs for equipment, materials etc bought up to 6 months before you start but not training. Any courses you attend whilst in business should be detailed as necessary for CPD.

 

[Jessica Rabbit]

Hi doll

I work for tax credits part time as well as being beautician part time. if you need info on what you can claim hour ect pm me... Tracy x