Self-Employed advice

nicola.k.

Hi

I need some advice for my friend, i dont have a lot experience in the ins and outs of tax for self employed so i could not really help her much!!

She is currently self employed as a nail technician and rents space in a salon and also has mobile clients, she has just bought a car which she also intends to use as advertising, now i know that you can reclaim a certain amount of business miles, however can she claim back the cost of her car or is it only a certain percentage? Also if she wanted to use the car as advertising could she only put the cost of the stickers through as advertising?

Also this may seem like a stupid question but she is fine with keeping all her records in order, she has opened up a seperate bank account (personal) which she banks all he takings into, does she have to allocate herself a set salary per week into her own bank account or can she take drawings as and when?

Please help!

farmergiles

nicola.k. wrote: »

Hi

I need some advice for my friend, i dont have a lot experience in the ins and outs of tax for self employed so i could not really help her much!!

She is currently self employed as a nail technician and rents space in a salon and also has mobile clients, she has just bought a car which she also intends to use as advertising, now i know that you can reclaim a certain amount of business miles, however can she claim back the cost of her car or is it only a certain percentage? Also if she wanted to use the car as advertising could she only put the cost of the stickers through as advertising?

Also this may seem like a stupid question but she is fine with keeping all her records in order, she has opened up a seperate bank account (personal) which she banks all he takings into, does she have to allocate herself a set salary per week into her own bank account or can she take drawings as and when?

Please help!

If your friend keeps all her car expenses then her accountant will decide whether it is better to claim actual costs or mileage allowance when the year end is completed. The stickers can be claimed as advertising.
Is your friend just a sole trader? If so, there is no need to allocate any salary, just be certain that she has the funds to cover any drawings that she makes. Also advise your friend that she should really be looking at putting between 10 - 15 % of takings to one side to cover her year end tax.

Has your freind registered as "self employed" with HM Revenue & Customs? If not, complete a CWF1 as soon as possible(available on HM Rev website. She will also need to complete a direct debit for National Insurance payments.
If you require any further help, don't hesitate to contact me.
Kind regards
Peter

nicola.k.

Thanks for the advice that has really helped!

She does not have an accountant at the moment but she does not want to get it wrong from the start. She has registered as self employed already. Does she need to set up a business bank account or is a personal one okay? So basically as long as there is enough takings to cover her expenses and the amount of money she needs to be paid weekly she can transfer how ever much money she likes into her own account weekly?

Sorry for sounding abit naive on all of this!

Your help is really appreciated!