What does it mean to be self-employed in Cookstown?
Self-employment is a term for those who are considered sole traders. Ultimately, they are those who work for themselves. If you are self-employed, you are responsible for the completion of your own tax returns in Cookstown. There are many situations in which the Government and HMRC consider people self-employed, for example, if they:
- Run a business
- Have full control over how, when and where they work
- Have the capability to hire others to assist with their work
- Are the provider of equipment needed to complete work
- Charge for their work
- Make a profit from their goods and/or services
It is important to remember that you can be both employed and self-employed at the same time. There are many situations in which you are self-employed in Cookstown. For example, if you are employed with another business and operate a start-up company in your spare time.
Do I need to register for self-employment tax returns?
Those who are working under self-employment must inform HMRC. Without doing this, you will not be able to pay taxes. There are serious consequences for those who do not provide HMRC with explicit information on their financial situation.
How do I register for self-employment tax returns?
How you register for self-employment differs. This is dependent on whether you have previously sent a tax return to HMRC. Regardless of your situation, you must create a Government Gateway Account. This allows you to check your National Insurance contributions. As well as this, you will file, organise and calculate your taxes online through this account.
If you are self-employed and have not completed a tax return before
If you did not send a tax return last year in Cookstown, you must register for Self Assessment and Class 2 National Insurance. They are completed through your business tax account. Following completion, you will receive a letter. This includes your Unique Taxpayer Reference within 10 days.
If you have previously sent a tax return under self-employment
On the other hand, if you have previously completed a tax return you must complete tax returns differently. If you sent it to HMRC, but not last year, you must re-register for Self Assessment and Class 2 National Insurance. However, if you completed a tax return last year, you must sign into your business tax account. Following this, create a business tax account and add Self Assessment.
When following these steps, you must have the 10-digit Unique Taxpayer Reference that you received the first time you registered to complete a tax return.
What happens after I have registered as self-employed in Cookstown?
There are additional things to consider once you have officially registered as self-employed. After this, you are entirely responsible for calculating how much tax you owe annually. In addition, you must also complete Self Assessment and tax returns in Cookstown to finalise this.
You must also consider National Insurance after becoming officially registered under self-employment in Cookstown. Those who are self-employed are also responsible for the calculation and payment of their Class 2 National Insurance Contributions.
Choose EG Accountancy to assist with your self-employment tax returns in Cookstown
The UK tax system is notoriously complex, but the benefits of structuring your finances tax-efficiently can be huge. EG Accountancy in Cookstown offers a variety of compliance services. It is extremely important to ensure that your calculations, processes and procedures are accurate. Whether you are recording spending, assets, expenses or any other financial aspects of your self-employment, we can help.
We offer a range of services including:
- End-of-year accounts: sole trader profit & loss balance sheets and sole trader income & expenditure accounts
- Taxes: self-assessment tax returns, VAT and payroll
EG Accountancy offers these services whilst also ensuring you maximise your available allowances. Therefore, you will never pay more tax than you should. If you require assistance with registering as self-employed, let us help!
Get in touch with us today to find out what our expert finance team can do for you.