Is it possible to be employed AND self employed?

[missmoopy]

I work as a social worker but want to start doing freelance practice assessing in spare time. In order to do this I assume I need to be self employed? Can I be self employed without it effecting my job?
Help!

IME, yes. But it makes doing your tax return no end of fun!

Yes you can be employed for one job and self-employed for other work at the same time. You will need to inform HMRC and register as self-employed, and your tax code at your employed job may change.

Have you checked your contract or handbook at your job to make sure you are allowed to do this?

Thats what I am worried about! Would I pay tax normally in job still? Or would I need to pay yearly tax bill?

you would pay your normal paye tax with your employed job and then annual tax on everything else.

that seems better! I do not even know where to start though? Talk to Inland Rev?

Yes. You'll have to ask them to send you the Self Employment part of the tax return, which you then fill in (including details of PAYE earnings and tax paid). If you have a husband who will do this, so much the better.

My husband is numerically challenged! I pay bills, sort all finances...will talk to Inland Rev.

I am both employed and self-employed and its fine!

Tax return is not as bad as all that, the thought of doing it is far more painful than actually filling in the figures!

How did you do it PositiveAttitude? I really do have no idea where to start!!!

How much are you expecting to earn in your self-employed capacity? If it is less than £5,075 then you can apply for a Certificate of Small Earnings Exception, which exempts you from paying Class 2 NI contributions (assuming you will be paying Class 1 contributions from your PAYE work)

The Self Assessement forms are a bit of a bugger to fill out every year, fortunately I have a DP who works in finance so he checks it all over for me.

Yes, I do and hand everything over to the accountant at the end of the year

Yes it's fine, do your tax return on line it's all explained and v straightforward.

Just keep track of all your paperwork.

I do - I do the same work but for some of it I am on the payroll and some I invoice for.

MissMoopy, you need to just phone the inland revenue and let them know what you are doing. You have to do this within 3 months of starting the self employment. I am below the limit for the NI, so dont pay it on the self employed earnings. You need to keep a record of outgoings and money coming in, but it only needs to be a simple speadsheet.You can claim for expenses and travel etc, so for me its well worth doing.

Yes i am, i work l govt as my job and had to check with hr it was ok in my contract which it was as not conflicting. Self assesment isnt as scarey. I pay paye then chuck it all in the self assesment and then they see what i owe and adjust paye code for the next year.

I do too. No problems. Contacted Inland Revenue and sorted NI, and pay PAYE for main job, and self assessment for other work at home. Get the self assessment form in early and they calculate the tax owed for you and I just pay. Easy and no probs so far.

Cool, thanks ladies. Now feel more able to make the leap!

missmoopy - you might want to come and look in the Freelance/Self-Employed section of Mumsnet.

I just started a thread there with some resources for self employed folks.

You will probably need professional indemnity insurance. You might find that your professional body has information that it useful when going freelance.

Good luck!