HMRC registration a must

Thanks to all that have replied. I am going to work out what sales and expenses I have at the moment over the weekend and will contact HMRC Monday. Hopefully I will have my shop open again next week. Once again thanks for your help, much appreciated

Well, just registered my shop to HRMC, hopefully I did it right. Just wait to hear from them now thanks to all for advice given. Such a relief to know that I have done it. Didnā€™t intend not to just hadnā€™t realized that I had to!!!

Whatever business you are running and if your business is coming with in tax slab then that percent of slab amount you to pay as tax. Few of of my friends has started their business since last few days and their question is whether they also required to pay tax? Yes, at the end of the assessment period they have to pay as per slab amount. This clearly shows that while starting your business HMRC registration is must. To remove any doubt you can call HMRC Customer Service here.

This article on the blog has lots of useful info about self-assessment and registering your business

I have yet to make a sale on here, but had been selling bits through my Facebook page. I am still running at a loss, but fully expect it for a few years - but one of the first things I did was registered with hmrc as the last thing I would want to do is have My benefits stopped. I am a carer for my disabled son, and we could not manage if that happened. Some people think I am mad for not just sitting around on benefits, and trying to do moreā€¦ but I really want to try and show my children the satisfaction gained from working and earning. I thought it would be complicated to do a self assessment, and was terrified I first saw the online form but I had kept all my records, and somehow muddled through easier than I thought I would, and this year I will tally it all up as I go along so I will already have the figures to hand.

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Thatā€™s what I do as every transaction is written down and with the receipts and copies of invoices.

Total every month then at the end of the tax year add up those monthly totals yay so much easier that way as all the information is ready for the tax form :slight_smile:

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Great article on the blog by the way (see May 16 above). I am HMRC registered even though I donā€™t turn over more than Ā£500 annually. Iā€™m perhaps panicking a bit here, but I thought I heard recently that all records must be electronic on specialist computer programs. Will just recording on a spreadsheet be sufficient in the future? If not then I may just give up. Anyone else heard this?

I found this article which relates to what you mention
http://www.icaew.com/en/technical/practice-resources/icaew-practice-support/practicewire/news/the-move-to-digital-and-mandating-quarterly-returns
it indicates that businesses will need to do their tax return on specialist software but the government will provide it if they donā€™t all ready have it. It is not quite so clear for individuals but it looks like we will be expected to run our tax affairs with via a digital (online) account where possible, no mention of us having to use specialist software to interface with that digital account.

that could be quite scary for people like meā€¦I wouldnā€™t have a clue about software and get in a panic with anything technicalā€¦fortunately at the moment, I have a good friend who is an accountant and does all my tax returns for me at his office.
Surely HMRC will realise that not everyone understands technologyā€¦or might not even HAVE a computer.

Thank you Sasha. Perhaps not as scary as I thought. It had been keeping me awake at night. I will continue as normal until told otherwise.

I have been registered for around three years and have only just realised that I can include my bus fares and car travel when shopping for supplies, although I have added car travel to and from craft fayres so not sure why I didnā€™t realise!? I could also claim for electricity used to make my items (my glue gun is on permanently) but I just donā€™t know how to work out electric used on running my laptop and glue gun and sometimes my oven depending what style mask I am making.
How do I work the electricity part out can anyone help me? Please :grin:
I am learning all the time, I have a spread sheet of money in and money out, receipts and copies of every sale all tidy in an organizer so am quite organised with everything, I am even ahead of myself with filling the forms out and submitting them too, but I do hate it all, double checking everything all the time lol

I wonder if the new system will be more for businesses that earn a certain amount?
I hate it when they change things, like it isnā€™t enough work as it is. Iā€™m not going to worry about it until HMRC get in touch with me though.

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good idea Lowriā€¦I am sure this will be for the ā€œBig Boysā€ and not for usā€¦

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Iā€™m pretty sure if you work from home you can include a percentage of the fuel bill. I canā€™t remember what it is now- but Iā€™m sure itā€™s something like- if you have letā€™s say- 6 rooms in your house and you work solely from 1 room- you can include a percentage of that or something.
Sorry- Iā€™m being next to useless here. It was explained to me a few years ago by a business advisor and Iā€™ve forgotten as I didnā€™t really bother to include it. But itā€™s not just because of power you use having the glue gun on say. Itā€™s the fact that the room will have lights on and be heated etc. Thatā€™s why you can claim for a percentage.

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Yes Thank you! I really should look it up and see how to work it out :slight_smile:

Carrying on from Susannahā€™s point if you have a dedicated workshop that is used (I canā€™t remember if they say solely or predominately at this point) for business you can claim a percentage of electricity/ gas/ council tax and (I think) mortgage interest based on the proportion of the house that your workshop represents eg 1 room out of 6 equals ~17% that you could claim, however if you donā€™t work full time from home you need to reduce this to reflect the amount of time you do work from home. Its different if you donā€™t have a dedicated workroom - then you need to use the simplified expenses system.
The appropriate HMRC pages are
https://www.gov.uk/expenses-if-youre-self-employed/overview
https://www.gov.uk/simpler-income-tax-simplified-expenses/working-from-home
Iā€™ve claimed expenses for shopping for murano beads in Murano (but not the ice cream I ate in the process) so its definately worth getting your head around the system.

Thanks! I knew it was something like that I just couldnā€™t remember the details. :slight_smile:
I donā€™t know why I never bothered to be honest. It wouldnā€™t have been particularly difficult to work out especially as I had a dedicated room back in the UK.
Thanks again!

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My accountant said that you can even take a % of the wear and tear on your car and your pc repairs if you need themā€¦in fact a % of anything that you use for your business. Heat and lightā€¦pens,pencilsā€¦all can be counted in.
I am sure that a lot of people are unaware of the amount you can actually take against your earnings.
For myself as a pensioner on a very low income (donā€™t even ask) I would be staying up all night to even get anywhere near paying tax but I STILL have to fill in the forms and declare my earnings.
I am hoping that eventually HMRC will see sense and tell me that I no longer need to fill in the formsā€¦such a waste of everyoneā€™s time and moneyā€¦unless you all want to buy every item I make every day (even then I would be nowhere near being taxableā€¦lol)