Full time job plus part time self employed

[bazza26]

Hi people,

I am working full time but am looking at doing some driving job part time but they require me to be self employed. I have no experience of doing self employed work and am wondering how easy it is to do tax returns?

[Buenchico]

The tax return is very easy to do if your income from self-employment is derived from a 'turnover' (i.e.your gross income before deducting any expenses) of less than £73,000.

However the actual registration process is a bit tedious. You can't even register until AFTER you've started self-employment. You then need to create a 'Government Gateway account' (online) and await postal acceptance, at which point you have to confirm the details of your account by going online and entering the registration code which was posted to you. You then wait again until receiving a letter which provides you with your UTR (Unique Tax Reference).

Thereafter, thankfully, thinks get simpler! Just keep records of all your income and expenses and calculate your gross profit. (HMRC don't require a full statement of your accounts). You can then submit your tax returns online or by post:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/selfemployed/

Chris

[Buenchico]

PS: If you'll be self-employed, remember to check the insurance position (with regard to driving) very carefully.

If you'll be driving your own vehicle the premium will almost certainly increase (perhaps quite significantly).

If you'll be driving a vehicle provided by the firm you'll be contracted to, you should check that they've got adequate insurance cover in place AND still tell your own insurer. (If, say, you're working full-time in an office but you'll be delivering pizzas or driving a taxi in the evenings, you'll probably find that your OWN insurance premium will rise).

Remember that any additional insurance costs you incur can be deducted from your self-employed income when calculating the profit to be declared on your tax return.

[1eyedjack]

I tend to be a bit nervous about quasi-employers "requiring" that their suppliers be self employed. It could of course be perfectly on the up and up. But the wording "require" indicates an element of choice. Legally, whether or not you are employed is a question of fact determined by the nature of the arrangement between the two parties, and not one of choice by either party even if in agreement on the matter. It is in the interests of the payer that you be self employed as it saves them employer's NIC, a certain amount of hassle, and a swathe of obligations under employment law. They take a bit of a risk because any PAYE liability that they have failed to account for remains their liability. But if they are unscrupulous and prepared to bear that risk it is not uncommon for them to "require" that the recipient be self-employed even if the economic reality dictates othewise. For example, if you are driving their vehicles it could well be an indicator of employed status.

This does not really go to the heart of the question but Buenchico has sorted that.