[richywilts]

i set out and began last august but had a few setbacks along the way and havent really ran things full time yet i.e not earning a regular weekly wage that i could live off. i was planning on going fully legit paying taxes etc at start of april beginning of tax year, wat things do i have to do to be a fully legitimate business what pointers do you all suggest,im meant to be seeing accountant but hes been busy with all the tax returns etc.

iv got no excuses im all set to go this year got website done, new leaflets and vans getting signwritten next few weeks.so i should begin to pick up regular amounts of work to push me towards becoming a full timer.

also im not a dole cheat etc i dont sign on.

any advice would be appreciated

cheers richy

[gerard mcmanus]

I presume you are in England then, well you have to fill in a form with revenue and customs and let them know you are earning a wage, you can earn money for upto x amount of months, I think it is three month before you must register as a sole trader, limited company etc. You can do it online, over the phone or by mail.

here is the form
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/forms/cwf1.pdf

I would register as a sole trader, or you will get stiffed on taxes if you go for limited before your over the threshold for it.

You might also want to send away for a national insurance exemption, if your earning for the tax year is under 4k or something.

I like many I think started in another job, and worked part time while I built up my round, I did that as much as I could then went full time. But even then I wasn't making allot of money, not what I wanted to take as a wage each month, and had to do a bit of round building to get enough money to make a living I was happy with. My point is you might not get there straight away, but work hard and you will get there.

[Moderator David@stives]

If you havent already registered for tax, you will get fined.

Somebody would have clocked this post and the Tax man will know about you now.

If you want to avoid  real trouble You will have to create some books dating back to when you started.

Dole cheat/ tax cheat, there isnt much difference to the authorities i'm afraid,

Dave

[HIGH LEVEL WINDOW CLEANERS (scrimmy)]

as long as you are devoting 30 hours a week looking for new jobs, canvassing, writing letters, working on your website, networking etc etc then you will be able to claim working tax credits to tide you over till you get established, you may even get help with your rent/mortage ( dont quote on that one)

[matt]

If you havent already registered for tax, you will get fined.

Somebody would have clocked this post and the Tax man will know about you now.



Dave

i am not 100 % sure on that david, in a ideal world you would be right, but its not a ideal world, i know a window cleaner who doesnt pay tax, he has been at it for 3 years now, he says he doesnt claim dole etc etc

oh and he works full time 5 days a week, he took over a round from another bloke who never paid tax in 6 years

makes a joke of it to be honest, i pay my tax's etc etc he doesnt, i guess it puts a extra few quid in his pocket

[groundhog]

If you havent already registered for tax, you will get fined.

Somebody would have clocked this post and the Tax man will know about you now.



Dave

i am not 100 % sure on that david, in a ideal world you would be right, but its not a ideal world, i know a window cleaner who doesnt pay tax, he has been at it for 3 years now, he says he doesnt claim dole etc etc

oh and he works full time 5 days a week, he took over a round from another bloke who never paid tax in 6 years

makes a joke of it to be honest, i pay my tax's etc etc he doesnt, i guess it puts a extra few quid in his pocket

The difference is that he hasn't announced it on a public forum!!!! 

[Niall McAllister]

get in touch with your local tax office, they run business start up courses and self assessment workshops. and if you are honest with them they will help you out

[matt]

If you havent already registered for tax, you will get fined.

Somebody would have clocked this post and the Tax man will know about you now.



Dave

i am not 100 % sure on that david, in a ideal world you would be right, but its not a ideal world, i know a window cleaner who doesnt pay tax, he has been at it for 3 years now, he says he doesnt claim dole etc etc

oh and he works full time 5 days a week, he took over a round from another bloke who never paid tax in 6 years

makes a joke of it to be honest, i pay my tax's etc etc he doesnt, i guess it puts a extra few quid in his pocket

The difference is that he hasn't announced it on a public forum!!!! 

fair comment

[Moderator David@stives]

I think someone might have just soiled there underwear

[Moderator David@stives]

On a serious note, get straight round to an accountant, spill the beans and work out which way to go, if you act now you can save yourself a lot of bother.

[macmac]

I would do as you said in your post & just start from 6 April. I very much doubt any tax man will be scanning this forum.

[jonisondell]

im wispering, nobody can hear but you, ritch i second macmac comments go ligit when you have enough turnover to live on,

in the mean time get an invisible coat and lye low, or better still clean windows in the dark

on a more serious note you have to pay tax  its the law, do it as soon as possible.

[Moderator David@stives]

Aint going to wash, its out in a public forum with over 50 views, Someone will report you.

Go and see an accountant, it is painless

[matt]

of course david, you could just delete the post and do the guy a favour 

[gerard mcmanus]

If you havent already registered for tax, you will get fined.

thats not quite true...

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/Taxes/WorkingAndPayingTax/DG_10016920

If you don't tell them within three months of the end of your first month in business you could face a penalty test.

so he has three months to register, its takes 5 mins and is harmless, they wont ask you anthing else ither than the info on the online form.

[Niall McAllister]

if you have a record of how much you've taken and how much you have spent so far then if you declare it, you will have till next jan to put in an assessment and if it has been a low amount you won't have much to pay.
 as you say, you want to be legit. the only thing that could cause you trouble is if you have not registered your business within 3 months of starting, even then if you plead ingnorance and get in touch with the authorities before they look for you, it should be ok ( remember, even though we are all experts on business law ,"probably"  no one here is  a business lawer and we could all be totaly wrong )

[gerard mcmanus]

right ok, they might say hello, how are you or something, but wont say, you got a licence, whats the number, how do you dispose of your water, you dont use public drains do you!

[ftp]

Should have told the taxman last August you had two jobs I think you know that? Just come clean and pay the tax owed, if you do it properly you will have a very small bill anyway after you've taken out your start up costs.

[williamx]

If you look at his profile (the taxman will) you will see he first logged onto this site in Feb 2008 that over a year ago.

In a post of july 2008 he is saying that he is trading, that was over 9 months ago.

The tax-man will take him to the cleaners when they find him and they do with many who think they have beaten the system. 

Don't forget if he goes legal now, for the next 6 years he will have to pray that the taxmans computer does not select him for a tax investigation, because if he was stupid enough to put any of this undisclosed money into his bank account, they will find out.

[rhys11]

I think he should be reported its people like him give us full time tax paying window cleaners a bad name.