[Tom]

Something I've been thinking about lately, just a small one for a bit of extra money alongside work, one which could essentially run itself.

Have any older members attempted this and succeeded/failed? And would anyone recommend it or even think about it themselves?

[Annie]

I have my own business in renting property - its a good thing to get into.

What kind of business were you thinking of setting up?

[Xander]

Originally posted by Annie
I have my own business in renting property - its a good thing to get into.

What kind of business were you thinking of setting up?

If you got the money at the moment, it is really good to buy propertys to rent, seeing as the house prices are soo low. :Thumbs:

[Hugo]

I have to start an 'imaginary business' for my ICT coursework

[Tom]

Originally posted by Annie
I have my own business in renting property - its a good thing to get into.

What kind of business were you thinking of setting up?

Sales

OK I have no idea, if I was to go further I'd do market research and things, I'm just not too sure what to do atm.

Probably just something simple like selling electricals or clothes (ebay type business)

[Annie]

Originally posted by Tom

Sales

OK I have no idea, if I was to go further I'd do market research and things, I'm just not too sure what to do atm.

Probably just something simple like selling electricals or clothes (ebay type business)

OMG! I know someone who is AMAZING at ebay sales and he does it all from his backside!

He gets like random things in the "yellow paper" - sometimes people give things away for free and then he sells them online. Also he buys the "bulk/wholesale lots" that are already on ebay and then sells them seperately.

He also sells other peoples things on ebay! I know this cos he sold a lot of my unworn clothes/books/dvds etc when I first moved out.

[Ross]

Tom > Business > Fail

[Tom]

Originally posted by Annie

OMG! I know someone who is AMAZING at ebay sales and he does it all from his backside!

He gets like random things in the "yellow paper" - sometimes people give things away for free and then he sells them online. Also he buys the "bulk/wholesale lots" that are already on ebay and then sells them seperately.

He also sells other peoples things on ebay! I know this cos he sold a lot of my unworn clothes/books/dvds etc when I first moved out.

Can you dodge tax by selling on ebay?

[Annie]

Course you can dodge tax! You will need to say that you are self employed though and do a self assessment tax return but then you can put more expenses in or less turnover. OMG! I wana go and do my tax return. Wow I am sad! I get over excited about accounts.

[Sunny_01]

I would not even think about messing about with taxes unless you know what you are doing, it isnt as easy to cover things up as you would imagine. Also as a sole trader (self employed) that is not registered for VAT you have far less you can claim as deductable from your earnings.

[Tom]

Originally posted by Sunny_01
I would not even think about messing about with taxes unless you know what you are doing, it isnt as easy to cover things up as you would imagine. Also as a sole trader (self employed) that is not registered for VAT you have far less you can claim as deductable from your earnings.

I've been researching it for most of the day. As far as tax goes all I've found out is that you have to pay a Class 2 rate (£2.20/week) and maybe a Class 4 rate which I haven't looked into properly yet. But I'm not sure if I want it to be a business or just an online trader just getting a bit of money alongside my wages. If its successful then I'd turn it into a business and pay tax, but not straight away.

Its definitely going to be something I'm going to look into though.

[Annie]

Originally posted by Sunny_01
I would not even think about messing about with taxes unless you know what you are doing, it isnt as easy to cover things up as you would imagine. Also as a sole trader (self employed) that is not registered for VAT you have far less you can claim as deductable from your earnings.

Its actually sooo easy to do it. The tax office only check 0.01% of tax returns that come in and ask for evidence. Thats only 5000-7000 tax returns a year! Obviously if you are the unlucky percentage you would be screwed.

[Sunny_01]

Originally posted by Tom

I've been researching it for most of the day. As far as tax goes all I've found out is that you have to pay a Class 2 rate (£2.20/week) and maybe a Class 4 rate which I haven't looked into properly yet. But I'm not sure if I want it to be a business or just an online trader just getting a bit of money alongside my wages. If its successful then I'd turn it into a business and pay tax, but not straight away.

Its definitely going to be something I'm going to look into though.

Thats is national insurance you are talking about there though not tax! be careful if you are already an employee and are earning money elsewhere you have to consider that in your overall income.

The odds of being audited may be slim but still not worth the risk, to be honest I would be wary about advocating it on here.

[GiRTh]

Originally posted by Sunny_01
I would not even think about messing about with taxes unless you know what you are doing, it isnt as easy to cover things up as you would imagine. Also as a sole trader (self employed) that is not registered for VAT you have far less you can claim as deductable from your earnings.

I had to set up my own business when I was a self employed sub contractor. The money was good but unless you get yourself a good accountant who prepared to take all the book work off you, its a lot of work. So as Sunny says there are many taxation issues that you need to deal with.

[Annie]

Originally posted by GiRTh

I had to set up my own business when I was a self employed sub contractor. The money was good but unless you get yourself a good accountant who prepared to take all the book work off you, its a lot of work. So as Sunny says there are many taxation issues that you need to deal with.

As a subbie you do need to keep on top of all your paper work as each job is different invoices and you have all your CIS cards to keep with UTRs etc but once you get it sorted and get into a routine it should be alright from there.