There are many different reasons behind deciding to become self-employed. It may be that you don’t want to work for someone else, it could be a redundancy which prompts you or a lifelong desire to realise a dream job.
Once you have taken the decision to become self-employed aside from getting motivated to find work, there are a number of other things that you have to consider. Things that no one warns you about.
You have chosen your profession, did you choose to have to deal with tax and NI, advertising, marketing, insurance, and all the other things that go along with self-employment? These things most people work out as they go along.
The first thing you need to do is to register with HMRC as self-employed. This is a straightforward online registration form. You will need to set up a Government Gateway log-in as part of the process.
You will then receive from HMRC a UTR number this is a Unique Tax Reference and is a 10-digit number. This is the number HMRC will use in any correspondence. Your Gateway login will give you information about submitted tax returns and any outstanding tax you have to pay.
Once you have registered, HMRC will inform you when you need to send in a tax return. The financial year finishes on 5th April each year and then you have until 31st January in the following year to submit and pay any Tax and National Insurance which is due.
Confused? Our team at AT Accounts Ltd can help you with every step of the process.