Register Self Employed??

bambilicious

Hi All,

Just a quick question, well a couple actually, I will first explain the situation:

My partner, after being employed with the same company for 14 years last week walked out due to various problems with travelling etc, he now wants to get some work doing the profession on his own - floor laying!! Obviously he is not creating a company, he is just trying to earn a living by going it solo instead of working for a company.....

1) He would like to register self employed but isn't sure if he needs to until he starts getting the jobs, at the moment there is no work at all, but we have had the card lettered as a form of advertising his name against his profession - does he need to register with HMRC as trying to earn a living, or what happens as he may not get any jobs and therefore won't have tax to pay - am I right??

2) Can he accept a job working for a firm temporarily say 2 days a week as ''employed'' but still be registered as ''self employed'' in other words doing his own jobs the rest of the week - should the work arise??

We do not want to get into trouble by doing something wrong or not doing something at all - can someone please help out in answering the questions for me?

deborahcarpenter

yes you can be self employed and employed at the same time, i have done it for years.
he has to inform hmrc within 3 months of going self employed i think it is from the day you start to earn an income from the 'business'
he will need to fill out a self asessment form at the end of the tax year stating his income and outgoing etc. and also declaring his income from his 'employed work' this info will be on his P60 which he will receive at the end of the tax year in April. His tax will then be worked out by taking his total income (profit from self employed and wage from employed job) minus his annual allowance minus any tax already paid through his employed job which will give him his tax payable. It isnt as complicated as i have made it sound but its the best way i can explain it!!!
I hope this makes sense?

Monsoon

The 3 month rule is now obsolete - they have to inform within a certain number of months after the end of the tax year in which a liability to register arose. Can't remember offhand but its on the main HMRC page.

In practice, as long as you register soon after starting to trade, then you will be fine.

You can take the date of your first sale as your commencement of trade.

jilt

I believe it's the 5th October following the tax year that you first worked but as Jenni says it's best to register as soon as you start trading.

Dcollins

As a self-employed person he'll need to pay Class 2 NIC whether he earns anything or not. It is possible to be exempt if your earnings are very low, but then you have a gap in contributions which could lead to problems with future benefit claims or state pension (such as it is).

Details are on HMRC's website.

And yes, it's perfectly OK to be employed and self-employed at the same time.

PGM

jilt wrote: »

I believe it's the 5th October following the tax year that you first worked but as Jenni says it's best to register as soon as you start trading.

On their site it says register soon after starting to trade to avoid penalties; very vague and sinister!

Monsoon

PGM wrote: »

On their site it says register soon after starting to trade to avoid penalties; very vague and sinister!

Jill is right, it's 5th October after the end of the tax year, i.e. the usual dealine for notifying the need to do a tax return.
So, it's acutally more lenient than the old 3 month rule.

PGM

Monsoon wrote: »

Jill is right, it's 5th October after the end of the tax year, i.e. the usual dealine for notifying the need to do a tax return.
So, it's acutally more lenient than the old 3 month rule.

Yes I don't dispute that. Made me wonder about the above comment on their site, obviously prefer you to register sooner than the deadline

Henry

I believe he could also arrange with HMRC to have the tax from his self-employment deducted from his tax code, rather than send a cheque to HMRC at the end of the year. I think the income would need to be within certain limits though.

melb2902

Fairly new to all this but thought I would ask...would the CIS not come into this as this is floor fitting?