Legalities of selling 'hobby' items online...

[Shoegal30]

I am in FT work at the moment.

I am a keen photographer and in my spare time have taken photos of friends kids and framed them.

I have also started dabbling in 3d hand and foot castings to go alongside the photos.

I've had a couple of friends of friends ask me for the service which I will have to charge for.

I was thinking of creating a Facebook page and possibly a static website showing my portfolio but I am unsure of the legalities.

I don't consider myself as having a business at the moment and don't plan on leaving my FT job at the mo although I would love to be my own boss one day.

I guess I just want to dip my toe in the water and see if this could have legs.

Advice please...

Just check with HMRC about how to declare the tax and what level of income before you have to be VAT registered. At least its not food so far less complicated there.

Ok thanks Mummytime. Just needed a pointer in the right direction.

I don't want to go to the trouble of registering with Companies house etc if this doesn't ever become anything more than a hobby.

if you are making something to sell then you are a business, so will need to register as self employed and keep records of all money paid/received so you can file a tax return - even if you don't make any profits.

Thanks Sandy. I'm clueless when it comes to all this.

So do I just have to go the HMRC website? Also do I need to start keeping receipts of all my purchases i.e. Photo frames, camera lenses etc?

Also can I be employed FT and self employed too?

I would contact both HMRC and your local Business Link, they can both be really helpful with info and advice when you start your own business. The very first thing is to keep records of everything!

You can be employed and self-employed at the same time assuming your employer has no issues with that. Check your contract if you haven't already.

You are likely to pay tax on all your SE earnings as I imagine your tax allowance (the c£10k you are allowed to earn tax free) will be accounted for via PAYE. So it will pay to be very diligent and keep all your business expense reciepts as you can deduct them from your profit before you work out your tax.

You don't need to set up a company at this stage. Depending on what you are selling you might also consider insurance.

It sounds a lot but once you get your head around it, it isn't too bad.

xxx

Sorry for the xxx was looking at a text just beforehand! Good luck.

You definitely need to inform HMRC and also look into insurance.