Business Query on Accounts Tax & Websites

[Kimbers 1,794]

I have a fledgling business dealing in Antiques and have a few queries that maybe you can all help with.

I have read online about Fledgling businesses and that you can earn up to a certain amount without claiming on tax or having to self assess. 

But not sure of the details.

1. Is the £1000 I can earn profit for the business? Turnover? Or personal wages because I don't take a wage at all.
2. Do I need to keep accounts? I keep a stock list and sales receipts through Paypal and selling to individuals through word of mouth but don't do any accounts. At what point do I need to?
3. Any tips anyone can give on keeping receipts etc just in case I go over the threshold, to save me time then having to go back?
4. How many years do I need to keep everything for?

Lastly any advice anyone could give me? I use Facebook and Ebay mainly to sell items. Has anyone used Etsy or any other sites to sell things? Is it worth me paying to have my own website seeing as this month I have sold £179 of items and about half of that is profit? I would hate to pay a lot and not sell anything?

 

[Bibs 11,167]

I think you can sell up to £6k's worth of 'personal effects' and be exempt from capital gains tax but if you're buying to sell at a profit then the profit has has to go on your self-assessment on which you'll be taxed and pay NIC's. HMRC are pretty smart to this and can have access to ebay accounts to look for patterns, eg time between buying and selling etc.

Keep a simple spreadsheet of item cost, any deductions due to repairs, then sale price & profit. You can also have a column of expenses such as ebay/paypal fees which can also be used to deduct from the bottom line profit. Personally, I'd keep 40% of the profit back to cover the tax etc and if you pay less, it's a bonus! 

Using established sites gives you traffic - setting up your own online shop means marketing/SEO and all that goes with that to get people on the site in the first place.

[C8RKH 6,256]

Also look to offset costs for any specific tooling, cleaning equipment (cloths, liquids, pastes etc) and other things that you legitimately use to restore/create your items.

This could include specialist lamps, a workstation etc too if it's primary use is in line with your business and any "professional subscription" costs can be offset too (relevant specialist organisations & magazines, technical journals etc) - basically anything which is directly around supporting/running your business.  You only pay tax on "profit" after all and good records will support costs claimed.

[jep 853]

Decide if this is a hobby or a business. 

I collect old toys etc.... and sell some on E Bay that are spare/no longer wanted. I don't declare any of this, it is all small figures (£10 to £500 per item) and I don't do much per annum. I don't claim any expenses (post, listing fees etc..) and I don't keep accounts. As Bibs says, that is allowed as a hobby.

I also run various businesses. I claim every expense, keep every receipt, declare all income, have separate bank accounts for each business and an accountant does accounts at each year end (he has two Lotus and frequents this parish). 

We use Dropbox to share receipts with the accountant (scanned copies). Some use software like Xero. Quickbooks is not a favourite with professional accountants but many traders use it. 

You know in reality if you are running a business or not. If you are, do as paragraph 3. You may even get tax back in the first few years as you build up the business. You can claim phone, internet, petrol etc.... as long as you do it all in a sensible and professional way.

HMRC are now monitoring E Bay and similar sites for people who are not paying tax but are clearly running a business. This will be, in the main, those selling 1000's of items a year but HMRC are not as stupid as you may think and they are aware of the problem.

Justin

[Kimbers 1,794]

It started from collecting myself but I buy job lots of items and I found a lot I didn't want so I take what I want then flog the others individually. I normally get the items I want for free by doing this, plus make a quid or 2 but not a lot. However I do want to do this as a business at some time in the future, maybe even run a little shop myself, when I retire. So I was trying to build up knowledge by putting 10-20 items online a week. Of Course only 2-3 sell a week.

[jep 853]

I would do it properly now. Open an account, loan £X to the company (LLP, Ltd or just 'trading as') and put all transactions through that bank account.

You can pay yourself interest on the loan. And run various costs through the business bank account.

Justin 

[Kevin Wheeler 346]

1. The £1,000 that you reference is a round sum amount that the Revenue brought in a few years ago to use instead of actual expenses and to save small businesses keeping records. The wage that you mention would, actually, be your profit - on which you should pay tax.
2. If it is a business, then you do need to keep records. As mentioned above, if it is a hobby and you are only selling small amounts of personal items, then it is not a business.
3. A simple spreadsheet would be sufficient while this is low key. You will need to get a bit more complicated if it turns into something more substantial
4. Five years after the January after submitting a tax return.

The £6,000 that Bibs mentions is for one item. So if you had a personal painting and sold it for £5,000 - no tax. Sell it for £7,000, then you have to declare it for Capital Gains Tax (may still be no tax - the annual allowance is £12K)

All the other advice above is correct.

Lots of accountants would give you a free initial chat if you are still worried.

[pete 1,805]

Are you self employed already

[Kimbers 1,794]

15 hours ago, pete said:

Are you self employed already

Nope, but I do 2 jobs already!