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Self-Employed: Set Up As A Sole Trader

Sole traders run their own business as individuals and are self-employed. They must register as a sole trader with HMRC if they earn over £1,000 a year from self-employment. Responsibilities include keeping records, filing annual tax returns, and paying income and national insurance taxes. Sole traders can choose their business name but it cannot be offensive or duplicate trademarks. They must follow certain rules on naming and running their business.

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134 views2 pages

Self-Employed: Set Up As A Sole Trader

Sole traders run their own business as individuals and are self-employed. They must register as a sole trader with HMRC if they earn over £1,000 a year from self-employment. Responsibilities include keeping records, filing annual tax returns, and paying income and national insurance taxes. Sole traders can choose their business name but it cannot be offensive or duplicate trademarks. They must follow certain rules on naming and running their business.

Uploaded by

Kecskeméty Bori
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Set up as a sole trader

If you’re a sole trader, you run your own business as an individual and are self-employed.

You can keep all your business’s profits after you’ve paid tax on them. You’re personally responsible for any
losses your business makes. You must also follow certain rules on running and naming your business.

Check what counts as self-employed if you’re not sure about your status.

How to register

You need to set up as a sole trader if any of the following apply:

you earned more than £1,000 from self-employment between 6 April 2017 and 5 April 2018
you need to prove you’re self-employed, for example to claim Tax-Free Childcare
you want to make voluntary Class 2 National Insurance payments to help you qualify for benefits
To set up as a sole trader, register for Self Assessment and file a tax return every year.

Your responsibilities

You’ll need to:

keep records of your business’s sales and expenses


send a Self Assessment tax return every year
pay Income Tax on your profits and Class 2 and Class 4 National Insurance- use HMRC’s calculator to help
you budget for this
You’ll need to apply for a National Insurance number if you’re moving to the UK to set up a business.

VAT
You must register for VAT if your turnover is over £85,000. You can register voluntarily if it suits your business,
for example if you sell to other VAT-registered businesses and want to reclaim the VAT.

Working in construction industry


Register with HMRC for the Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) if you’re working in the construction industry
as a subcontractor or contractor.

Naming your business

You can trade under your own name, or you can choose another name for your business. You don’t need to
register your name.

You must include your name and business name (if you have one) on official paperwork, for example invoices
and letters.

Business names
Sole trader names must not:

 include ‘limited’, ‘Ltd’, ‘limited liability partnership’, ‘LLP’, ‘public limited company’ or ‘plc’
 be offensive
 be the same as an existing trade mark

Your name also can’t contain a ‘sensitive’ word or expression, or suggest a connection with government or
local authorities, unless you get permission.

ExampleTo use ‘Accredited’ in your company’s name, you need permission from the Department for Business,
Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS).
Check which words you need permission to use, and who from.
You’ll need to register your name as a trade mark if you want to stop people from trading under your business
name.

Help and support


You can sign up for business support emails from HMRC to help you if you’re working for yourself.

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