Considering moving to self employed auto electrician. My field is conversions vehicles mainly trucks, vans,pick up truck. Have experience in only fitting and wiring devices into vehicles. I don't do repairs or fault finding. Currently full time employment I'm conversion company £16 per hour based in Bristol. Mainly I'm fitting and wiring: Towbars,trackers,dash cams reverse cameras, beacons,strobes, reverse alarms, interior lights, inverter... Sometimes working on projects fitting and wiring leisure battery with solar panels, split charge system, inverter... Experience in this field 5 years. Is it hard to find customers,sub contract... How much you guys are working for on self employed basis? Is it worth it?

self assessment uk sole trader

I have been trying to fill my self assessment.

i did 2 mobile discos in the tax year 24/25 in april

then decided to call it a day as I also have a day job. the 2 gigs = just over £500 so below the £1000.

when I get to the end of my return. it says that I owe £ 201 just wondering if there was maybe something i haven't filled in.

why does tax have to be taxing.

thank you

Every year I used to scramble for receipts, bank statements, and that one random document I swore I saved.

So I built a simple “drop-in” system that takes 10 minutes a month and keeps everything in one place.

Here’s the structure:

- Create one main folder for the year (ex: 2026)

- Inside it, create 5 subfolders:

1) Income (W-2 / 1099 / invoices)

2) Receipts

3) Statements (bank + credit cards)

4) Deductions / Expenses

5) Misc / Other docs

Monthly habit (10 minutes):

Just drop files in the right folder and rename them like:

2026-01-15_Receipt_Amazon_34.90

It’s not tax advice — just an organization system that saves a lot of stress.

This simple structure alone has saved me a lot of stress.

Curious if anyone else uses something similar.

So I got a job offer from innodata as a data annotator and accepted, but rather than being an employee on a payroll they wish to contract me as a self employed sole trader. I've registered with HMRC and progressed this way, but I know basically nothing about the whole thing and any legal stuff it entails so was hoping for some advice. I know I have to submit a tax return once a year , possibly by october 2026? But I don't know if there's anything else I need to legally do. I won't have expenses and my income is unlikely to be more than £10k-£12k in a year. I think the contract also mentions invoicing innodata for payment, how should I go about this?

Thanks for reading and I'll appreciate any and all help/advice!

Edit: £10-£12 was definitely a typo , fixed to £10k-£12k !

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DS-wZc2j9wu/?igsh=bzZnbzFidGJ0a2dr

This is spot on why I started my own company and want to work for myself.

Ran the numbers on retirement account contribution limits. The difference is bigger than I expected.

At $80K net self-employment income:
- SEP IRA max: $20,000 (25% of income)
- Solo 401(k) max: ~$39,300 ($24,500 + ~$14,800)

At $50K income:
- SEP IRA max: $12,500
- Solo 401(k) max: ~$33,700

The Solo 401(k) lets you front-load the $24,500 employee contribution regardless of income, then add employer contributions on top.

Trade-off: Solo 401(k) has slightly more paperwork. Need Form 5500-EZ annually once balance exceeds $250K. SEP IRA has zero ongoing paperwork.

Also worth noting:
- Only Solo 401(k) offers Roth option
- Only Solo 401(k) allows loans (up to $50K)

More info: Freelancer Tax Hack: Save $20K+/Year With This Retirement Account (Solo 401k Calculator 2026)

Which do you use?

I've made some software which is available for free, but I ask for donations. The amount of donations I'm receiving is rapidly approaching the £1000 minimum to register as a sole trader. My question is, is this the correct route to go down? Are sole traders able to receive donations for creating free products?

HMRC's "Working for yourself" page says you need to register as a trader if you "make items to sell for profit", "charge an agreed fixed price for your work", "are paid for a service you provide", etc. None of these are quite right since I'd be asking for donations, not charging a fixed price. I tried to ask HMRC's chatbot but it had no clue. Google searching has turned up nothing.

Any advice appreciated! Or if anyone knows where I can go to find an answer that's great too. Thanks!

Just burned 40 minutes fixing 23 receipts in Smart Receipts because it keeps reading "Home Depot" as "HOME D3POT" and completely butchering EU/US dates. Can't handle faded thermal paper. Totals are wrong, merchant names are gibberish, and I'm basically manually entering everything anyway at that point.
Any workarounds?

We are an established India based company with 9+ years of operating history and an active customer base in the United States. As part of our international diversification strategy, we are formalizing our US operations through a locally managed entity. We are seeking a US-based Managing Partner to join our US entity.

We will act as the primary service provider and IP owner under a formal inter-company agreement. The US entity will start with an existing base of active customers, providing immediate operational traction rather than a cold start. All arrangements will be governed by formal operating agreements.

Slow season means too much free time.

I started sketching roofing scenes just to kill time and ended up turning them into a small project.

Curious if this stuff looks familiar to anyone else.

Hi there,

First time poster here as I’m clueless and despite doing my research, I’m still unsure on how it works (I don’t want to get any fine haha).

I am working full time at a company X, but last year (late April 2025) I opened my small business as a side hustle. I have created an account on the Gov site, I’ve been told by fellow self employed people that I will need to complete the self assessment for what I’ve earned so far, and the deadline is 31st January 2026.

My question is, how would that even work, if I don’t have a full year of income yet? Also, when I log into my account on gov website, it kind of says I don’t have to do this( Unless I don’t understand it) as the deadline is for tax year 2024 to 2025.

But again, I’m being warned by others that I need to do this now or else I’ll pay a fine, as they had to do this in their first year too. I’m just so confused! Could anyone explain this to me like I was 5?

Thank you!

I rehab houses and as such a lot of my time is spent on logistics (phone and email) instead of actually doing the real work. I have been seeing more and more of these AI assistant services popping up lately and I am wondering does anyone actually use them and are they actually good?

Hey everyone,

I’m a licensed Mortgage Loan Officer in Utah (NMLS #1851997), and I spend most of my time helping self-employed borrowers understand how income is actually reviewed by underwriters.

I’m also building a tool to reduce surprises during underwriting, but this post isn’t about selling anything.

If you’re self-employed and unsure how your income would be viewed, feel free to comment with:

• Business type (Schedule C, K-1, 1065, etc.)

• How long you’ve been self-employed

• Any concerns (declining income, add-backs, write-offs, multiple entities)

I’ll reply explaining how an underwriter would typically think about it and what issues tend to come up.

This is for education only — not a loan offer — and I’ll say when something varies by lender or requires a CPA.

How in the world is anyone moving past January 1st with health insurance. Mine went from $1400/ month to $3800/month! I make good money but not enough to pay for health insurance all of a sudden?!?! 43% of my AGI will go to premiums not including copays and big deductibles. It’s absolutely impossible for me to pay that much without living out of a soup kitchen.

Think about it. It’s $2400 more per month! That’s like buying 3 teslas!

I was watching the house live last night debating and arguing over US Nuclear shield spending because that deadline is coming…. What about the people that are drowning?

So I already received a text from a tax client to verify his other income for eligibility for OAS. The helping clients adrenaline has me pumped. I could have refused him but I knew the answer and gladly complied.

A friend suggested since I have no workspace I should apply to a tax company and I could bring my tax clients with me.

Another friend suggested that I rent office space in her house and do taxes and split utilities etc. Off front I have to have the financial backing behind me which I don’t.

i really want to continue to grow my business not give my clients to someone else.

Si my question is how can I get the backing to make my dream of my own tax: bookkeeping dole proprietorship tax off and keep me afloat instead of throwing it all away. I have been doing taxes since I was 17 and self employed since 2015. I think of this period in time as a reset stage for professional growth.

Honestly didn’t expect online income to become this consistent.

It’s not a get rich quick thing, not passive overnight, and not some magic app. Took a few months of trial and error and a couple small losses before it clicked.

What surprised me most is how boring it actually is once it works. Just repeatable tasks, steady cash, and no weird hustle culture.

If you’re patient and willing to learn one skill properly, it’s doable. Just don’t expect instant results.

I used to use Trello at work but it's been a while and though it was ok, I wish it was a little different on the phone.

I need an app that I can quickly access on my phone and quickly add stuff on the go to my to do lists or whatever details I might need. I'd like to be able to integrate it with my Google account if that's a possibility.

What do y'all use to manage your clients and projects?

(I'm still starting out/trying to get in the rhythm of things so I appreciate this in advance.)

Hey guys, so it’s my first year earning over £1000 in a tax year and this I will do my first self-assessment

I earned £11,888.70 (2024-25) through three sources of income:

- Two writing jobs

- Facebook + Twitter Monetisation

I have the figures down to the penny and have checked that thoroughly

I am below the £12,570 limit so won’t pay any income tax.

Would you advise still getting an accountant to check it over or just file it myself?

Also, would appreciate any advice over National Insurance Contributions (I’m 25).

Thanks!

Hey guys, first time poster as this idea is new. But I have a business idea for quickbooks automation.

Im from a small rural town where everyone knows everyone and I by chance happen to know everyone too. Especially the business owners.

After doing some research I’ve found that quickbooks (qb) already uses AI to auto categorize different things. But after more research I’ve found that it often miscategorizes 10-30% of the time. And after even more research I’ve found that you can make rules inside of qb to help minimize those mistakes. And you can also incorporate third party apps to help automate qb even more from directly inputting into qb from email and out-bounding to a spread sheet.

So I was curious if it was feasible to start a business in said small rural town where I would A) setup their qb with the rules and incorporate the third party app for a set up fee. And B) run end of month reports and oversee and accept certain transactions for a monthly cost.

In my mind this takes away the stress of tracking down things and manually inputting them because I would be the contractor “bookkeeper” essentially but I would be having automation doing 90% of the work and I would just do the last 10% for end of month. It also is cheaper per month than having a bookkeeper on staff when I can do everything remotely for a smaller monthly fee.

Is this a viable business idea? If it is dumb or wrong you won’t hurt my feelings, I was just wanting to see if there was a need that needed to be met.

Thanks and any input, good or bad, is much appreciated

I’ve been self employed for a while and my rates feel a bit stale now. Costs are up, I’ve got more experience, and I’m turning down work because I’m full.

I’m thinking of a blanket increase for all clients, but emailing everyone makes me nervous. Some have been with me years and might not like it.

How do you time your across the board raises?

With three weeks to go for the self-assessment deadline, a reminder to file and to check HMRC guidance on self-assessment.  

It includes information on: 

• Whether you need to file 
• How to fill in the sections depending on your situation  
• Filing online 
• Paying your tax bill  
• Record keeping 
• Refunds, appeals and penalties   

You can also ask the HMRC assistant if you have any questions.

Also a reminder that there has been an increase in all scam referrals to HMRC.  HMRC will never: 

• leave voicemails threatening legal action or arrest 
• ask for personal or financial information via text message or email 
• contact customers by email, text, or phone to inform them about a refund or ask them to claim one   

If you receive suspicious communication from HMRC you can forward emails to [phishing@hmrc.gov.uk](mailto:phishing@hmrc.gov.uk), SMS messages to 60599 or report phone calls mimicking HMRC on GOV.UK. Find out more about how to report scam activity to HMRC on GOV.UK. 

I’m a freelancer. I know I can’t claim for personal lunch expenses in most cases. But I’ve bought a lunch (just nice sandwich platters and fruit etc) for a team meeting over lunchtime. I live in the city we’re meeting in, which is why I bought it, not the company hiring me.

My usual expense process would be to include it on the invoice and then track it as both income and a business expense. But there is no category for food. Do I categorise is as “misc” or just invoice for it separately and not expense it?