Morning.
I have some concerns regarding my income tax, and the mess I have made.
I work full time but also do hairdressing on the side in evenings and weekends. I have done this for about 6 years not counting the covid years. It's extra income that I have come to rely on. It's mostly friends and family and they pay me either by cash, or via bank transfer. I don't earn a set amount each week but it's usually about £100 a week.
I have never declared this income. I have recently realised that I should have and I have taken steps to rectify this - I am submitting my first tax return this week, however that still leaves about 5 years worth of undeclared tax.
My partner thinks that I should just start to do it properly from this point on and forget about the previous years but I am worried that HMRC will catch me.
I have also recently submitted a complaint to my credit card company and as part of the process I have had to send 3 months worth of bank statements for 2022. I am concerned that the credit card company will see some of the payments that people have made to me via bank transfer and immediately report me to HMRC.
So, my two questions are...
1 - Do I forget about the 5 years of non-declared income and just do the right thing from now
2 - Are my credit card company likely to notice the transactions and report me?
nb.I use all of my tax free allowance in my main job so I should be paying 20% on the extra income.