Sole Trader

Some of the Advantages:

• Simplicity of start up
• Flexibility of working
• The income after expenses and taxes is all yours

Some of the Disadvantages:

• Responsibility for keeping adequate business records
• Personal liability for:
  • business losses
  • costs of business purchases, like goods and services
  • taxes

Starting Up

You must

• register with HMRC for Self Assessment and Class 2 National Insurance Contributions as soon as practicable after starting your business. Late registration can result in a penalty charge.
• register for VAT if you expect your sales in the year to be more than the prevailing threshold (refer to Some Information page for current registration level).
• register with HMRC as an employer if you intend to employ staff.

We will deal with all these registrations for you, leaving you free to concentrate on establishing your business.

Tax

You must

• submit a Self Assessment tax return every year and pay Income Tax and Class 4 National Insurance on your business profits.
• submit a VAT return every 3 months and pay the VAT owed if you are VAT registered.
• submit a Full Payment Submission before every payroll payment and pay the PAYE and NIC due each month if you employ staff.

We provide a comprehensive service to deal with all these matters for you.

For more information refer to our Accountancy Services and Tax Compliance pages