self employment in UK (part-time work)

[arsenal49]

I am currently doing a bit of research on self employment in UK and what sort of challenges are there for one to tackle.

There are so many posts in different sub forums where people are wondering about the same thing. Now that tier 1 general visa requirements have changed and they have increased earnings to minimum of 25 k, there will be many people , currently in UK on Post-study visa or Tier 2 visa who would want to boost their income.

I will appreciate if you could drop couple of lines regarding your understanding of the process. I will edit this first post every once in a while to post a question and will appreciate if you could reply with answer.

Hopefully, over few weeks period, we will have a very good resource material on this topic which would be very useful to people looking for self employment in UK.

Kind Regards

A1) What is the process involved in becoming self employed in UK?
A2) Can I be working with an employer as well as self employed?
A3) Where to look for self employment opportunities
A4) Self employment, does it only make sense if people have software/web developing background? (for people who are employed full time elsewhere and just want to boost their income via self employment)

[Idea]

i'm sure you'll get lots of info from the gurus..but my little knowledge i'll share

self employed people operate through a few channels

- umbrella company
- limited company
- sole trader

I have been self-employed for more than 2 years and i'm not in IT field.

contractors in general are paid more but do not get any holiday benefits, sick pay etc. and the job security is low. employer does not have committements of regarding redundancy and have flexibility in manpower. ie they can reduce/increase the contractors based on the fluctuations in workload. the permanent employees are more often 'permanent' ...ie unless there is a big restructuring

for increasing the income as a part time option...it might be possible in specific situations. if/when one can work from home and bill the client

opening a ltd. company is not very complicated..

[arsenal49]

Hi idea.

thanks for your post.

What is the absolute first thing i will need to do, if i want to open a ltd. company.

Also, how much tax do i need to pay on my earnings if i earn 5000 pounds in a year while self employed.

How can i generate invoices or receipts. I am thinking that these documents will be a necessity when it comes to self assessment for tax purposes.

Regards...

PS. i am literally starting from the ground up and have no idea at all. Most of these questions might come across as silly questions but i couldnt find relevant info anywhere on different wesites

[Idea]

to start a ltd. company you'll need to

- decide on a name for the company
- address for registration
- the field/nature of business - eg. IT consultancy, engg. services etc
- the director
- the share holders could be a single person ie 100% sh

you must contact a legal firm who will do the necessary paper work and
register your comany under the companies act. a reknowned legal firm might charge around 45 pounds for this service. - maybe for less...i didnt shop around when i did it.

for 5000 income to the company you;ll have to pay vat
- director salary - u could chose the min
- tax and ni (for individual) for this salary
-corporation tax for the invoiced amt

the taxes maybe low as the 5000 might be under the tax slabs...

for all the hassle of finding the information you could make a one time payment to an accountant and he'll do the needful

all the above ...i'll be surprised if you cannot find online with some googling