UK Tax for Small Craft Business Series (TSCB)

There's lots of us out there who would like to turn their crafting skills (and possibly an huge stash of raw materials) into profit - you have the skills to make your products, there's lots of help online about where and how to sell your products, but what about when you make money, how hard are you finding it to keep the admin straight, particularly your tax position?  It's probably not enough yet to be able to afford advice, but as a bit of knowledge goes a long way and keeps you out of trouble, I'm starting a series of articles on aspects of UK tax & accounting for craft businesses.

Because the UK tax filing deadline of 31 January 2011 is fast approaching I'm going to concentrate on what newly opened craft businesses need to do right now to get themselves set up with the UK tax authorities (HMRC) and give a bit of help on what income needs to be declared and what expenses can be legitimately claimed to reduce your tax bill, which will be equally applicable to new and existing crafting businesses.

I've got a few ideas already, but if you have any issues you'd like covered, leave me a comment and I'll see what I can do. 

All these articles will be tagged TSCB, so if you click on the TSCB marker in the Labels section, you'll be able to see the whole series. In due course I'll set up a tab at the top with links splitting the series up into topics.

The idea is to give you an introduction to the issue, and potential actions to consider and further reading so you can decide for yourself whether it is relevant to you personally. 

Disclaimer: Whilst I am a professionally qualified Chartered Tax Adviser with more than 15 years experience of advising sole traders, the articles in this blog are intended to prompt you to look at your own position, look further into the detail and make your own decisions about your taxation & accounting position. The articles are general in nature and may not fit your specific circumstances and therefore are not to be followed blindly without due consideration. There is no real substitute for paying for professional advice, and I take no responsibility for the results of any action you do or don't take as a result of reading my articles on the subject.