Becoming self employed is a new and exciting chapter of life, but it does come with extra responsibilities. With so much to think about, we asked David Genders, author of The Daily Telegraph Tax Guide to explain the key financial and tax points you need to consider when going self-employed.
By becoming self-employed you will have control over:
Your working hours giving you the opportunity to fit work around family life;
How your work is done; and
Most importantly, the earning potential of your business.
With so much going on, it is very easy to miss some of the crucial elements of starting your own business – in particular relating to the financials. So, I have pulled together some practical guidance to help you get things right.
The tax rates and bands in this article have been updated, by the Bytestart team, for the 2023/24 tax year.
First things first – Am I self-employed?
In most cases, it will be obvious if you are self-employed. Sometimes, however, it is difficult to distinguish between:
Employment (a contract for service); and
Self-employment (a contract for services).
Your business will have the trappings of self-employment if you:
Are responsible for the success or failure of the business;
Are paid a fixed fee, or price, for the work;
Can decide how, when and where the work should be done;
Can dictate the hours you work;
Provide your own tools; and
Significantly have no entitlement to paid holiday or sick leave.
If any of the above relate to you, then you need to consider yourself as self-employed once your business is up and running.
From the moment you start working as self employed, I recommend you open a separate bank account for your business. The records to account for include:
Your sales and other receipts; and
Purchases and overhead expenses
Invoices, bank statements and all documentation supporting purchases made should be kept and filed in an orderly manner, either electronically or manually, to help make things as easy as possible for you.
Using a dedicated online accounting app can save huge amounts of time and hassle. FreeAgent – which has been voted the UK’s No.1 accounting software for small businesses – even has the facility for you to submit your annual tax return directly through its software.
FreeAgent are currently offering ByteStart users a 1-Month Free Trial, a discount of 55% for 6 months and a 10% lifetime discount. Find out more at FreeAgent Free Trial.
SELF EMPLOYED TAX TIPS
An obvious and convenient choice to draw up your business accounts is 31st March as it coincides with the end of the Tax Year on 5th
Sometimes, however, it is better to go with a date early on in the tax year, such as 30th April, as this gives you more time to plan for the payment of the tax due on your profit.
Alternatively, if your business is seasonal in nature, it may pay you to pick an accounting date to coincide with the slack time of the year and when stocks are low.
The statement of the profit or loss of your business is not usually the simple difference between receipts and payments.
Adjustments are required for unpaid sales and amounts due to your suppliers or for overhead expenses at your year end. When it comes to expenses make sure you claim all the overhead costs.
SELF EMPLOYED TAX TIPS
If you are married or live with a partner who helps in the business you can claim the salary paid to him/her as a business expense. You should pay a sensible amount for these services. If this is their only job or income there will be no tax or National Insurance to pay on an annual wage less than £9,100 (2023/24).
If you work from home and a specific area of your home is set aside as an office you can claim a deduction for the appropriate proportion of fixed costs such as mortgage interest, council tax, light and heat, cleaning, etc.
Where the costs of your business, such as a car, are used both for personal use and work you should charge a fair and reasonable percentage of the expenditure to the business.
Taxable Profits
The profits shown by your accounts may not be the same as that on which you pay Income Tax. This is because some expenditure is not allowable in working out the taxable profits of a business. These include:
Business entertainment;
Amounts spent on items of a capital nature;
Professional costs related to capital expenditure; and
Own wages or drawings.
SELF EMPLOYED TAX TIP
Any of the expenditure for your business which you incurred in the seven years before you started to trade is:
Treated as if it was spent on the first day of business; and
Tax deductible.
Equipment and motor cars
A 100% rate of allowance can be claimed on annual expenditure up to £1 million on most types of plant and machinery, equipment, furniture and fittings. The rate of allowance on expenditure on motor cars is much less generous though.
Capital Allowance thresholds change regularly, and the rules are complex so check the exact details with your accountant.
SELF EMPLOYED TAX TIP
It may be tax efficient to purchase items of a capital nature toward the end of an accounting year rather than at the start of the following year. You will then benefit from the 100% first year allowance at an earlier date.
Financial losses through your new business
It is almost certain that your business will go through both good and bad times. Generally, losses can be set against other income or capital gains of the same tax year.
Any unrelieved loss then has to be carried forward for offset against profits of the same business in future years.
SELF EMPLOYED TAX TIP
There is a special form of tax relief for trading losses in the early years of a new business.
Losses incurred during the first four tax years can be set against your total income for the three years prior to that in which the loss arises. Relief is first of all given against total income for the earliest year.
Income Tax and National Insurance
In working out the amount of income tax due on your business profits you can deduct the personal allowance, £12,570 for 2023/24.
The basic rate (20%) applies to income between £12,571 and £50,270.
The higher rate (40%) applies to income between £50,271 and £125,140.
The additional rate (45%) applies to income over £125,140.
Please note that the personal allowance is eroded by £1 for every £2 you earn over £100,000. This means that the entire allowance disappears if you earn over £125,140!
SELF EMPLOYED TAX TIP
As a self-employed taxpayer you can set up a personal pension to save for your old age. You can make:
Regular contributions or ad hoc payments.
The maximum amount you can contribute on which you will get tax relief at your top rate of tax is equivalent to:
Your annual business profits, but subject to a maximum of £60,000.
National Insurance Contributions for self employed
In addition to Income Tax, sole traders usually pay two types of National Insurance Contributions (NICs), namely:
Class 2 NI at £3.45 per week for the 2023/24 tax year. You only need to pay Class 2 NI if your annual profits are above £12,570.
Class 4 NI at 9% on profits between £12,570 and £50,270, reducing to 2% on profits over £50,270 for the 2023/24 tax year.
You will find a more detailed explanation of taxes and NICs for self employed workers in;
Self-employed individuals cannot claim some of the state benefits such as the contribution based Jobseekers Allowance, Statutory Sick, Maternity and Paternity pay.
Always look to the future and plan for your retirement whether you are contemplating a sale or handing the business down to the next generation.
This guide has been written exclusively for ByteStart by David Genders, author of The Daily Telegraph Tax Guide since 1982. Having been a Partner in the firm, he is now a Consultant to Sayers Butterworth LLP, a firm of Chartered Accountants specializing in personal tax issues.
Simply open a free business current account to qualify + 12 months free transactions. Read our Tide review. Open a Tide savings account at the same time and earn an excellent 4.07% AER (variable) on your spare funds.
