Forum Moderators: phranque
I want to get things legal and correct right from getting off the plane at Heathrow.
My situation is likely to be website earnings being 80% of my income plus a small part-time job too. Do I need to register as self-employed or not? Should I just head to local Inland Revenue and let them take it from there?
Any info from people in the UK who have done this would be appreciated....
You need to speak to someone about this, someone not on a public board, as others have said.
Mess with the tax man at your peril, they dont mess around. Once you get investigated you will likely be repeat visited which as I am told is a real ball ache.
Look around you. Look at the condition of state schools and state hospitals. Look at the condition of the streets.
Look at public transport - most of it is privately owned now and it's dreadful... how much better would have been if we still owned it?
Look at how lack of properly funded education leads to much more expensive problems than providing the education in the first place.
You can try to find ways to reduce your tax burden if you want, but seriously, this country is falling apart.
You can register with the Inland Revenue as a sole trader with a five minute phonecall - it's cheaper and easier than registering as a Ltd company and you can always become a Ltd company later, if you want to.
They'll send you a sheaf of forms which you can fill out (relatively) easily.
I never intended to be anything but fully legit and above board.
But what that poster said about money never entering the country where you lived intrigued me on a purely academic level.
The situation revolves around the definition of 'earnt abroad'. If you go to the USA and build a website, open a US$ account and leave the money there you are not liable for UK tax, though there may be a technical US obligation.
If your company is US based and you did the same but from this country then you would be liable.
This is not regarded as tax avoidance or underhand, you can,and should, declare the income but declaring it does not mean it is taxable.
>> Once you get investigated you will likely be repeat visited
Not necessarily. I got investigated under the "lottery" system (where they pick people at random). They didn't find anything untoward (except that they wanted me to repay VAT on the private phone calls I made from my office phone!) so they didn't bother returning in the last five years.
>> Am I the only one who thinks taxes are great, then?
Oh, I pay taxes. I pay great chunks of it. Your left leaning arguments are good and we all want to see good transport and good schools. But, you make a simple error. The facilities are poor not for want of money but because of mismanagement.
I also pay for the county council's breast feeding coordinator (huh?!), for three of the local plods to hide behind a hedge all day long to see if I'm doing 33 mph in a 30 mph zone, for Ken Livingstone's £10K party for a certain politician's 20th anniversary of coming out of the closet, and for my local councillors to take long trips to Bermuda to see if Bermuda wants to "twin" with MyTown. I support all the sixteen years olds who want to leave home by getting pregnant, I pay the local burglar's legal aid to sue the houseowner who left his swimmingpool uncovered, I pay for my children's education within the tax I pay, and then I pay again to send them to a school that doesn't teach them that state is best. Do I get a rebate from the state for it? I don't. A good example of what happens to your taxes: The London congestion charge. Over 90% of the amount collected goes in administering the er, scheme.
Paying less tax is good, not evil. As long as you use legal means to minimise your tax burden. Celebrities do it, sport stars doit, other big earners do it, big businesses do it, even politicians do it. Hey, the inland revenue recently did a sale and leaseback deal with a company that was based off-shore (to minimise tax).
>> Money earnt abroad is only subject to UK taxation when you bring it into the country
That is incorrect AFAIK.
Paying less tax is good, not evil.
In highly developed economies, yes, I would agree.
However, one can draw so many parallels between Britain in 2005 and various developing economies it's not even funny. In fact, when you consider further that the UK is the fourth largest economy in the world, it's scary. Exactly how much money in Britain is locked away beyond public circulation?
We are not sufficiently developed at present to the point where the country can afford to have high-earners not pay their taxes. If we ever were that developed it was way back when before the 1970s oil crisis or something.
There seem to be a lot of other countries in Europe which are poorer than this one but have cleaner streets, better quality schools, libraries, reasonably paid firemen etc. I don't understand how things in this country can be as bad as they are unless a lot of UK money is being removed from public circulation.
Right now, I declare everything, only deduct about half my expenses, and I am of the mindset that taxes on businesses should increase.
You're absolutely right that the taxes need to be better managed. But I don't see how finding ways to pay less tax is going to have that effect.
Exactly how much money in Britain is locked away beyond public circulation?
Huh?
The relevant questions are things like what % of the working population is employed by the government instead of doing something useful (OK, OK, some of them are doing useful jobs), when is tax freedom day....etc
Right now, I declare ... only ... half my expenses
Disgusting! Do find a more worthy charity.
