Sole Trader

fitnessguru · 08-08-2015 10:50am #1

Just wondering the best way to register as a sole trader. Can I do it online through ROS? What would be the next step? Setting up a separate bank account, income would be under 20k per annum so I suppose that there's no necessity to register as a business as such and just operate in my own name.

Also as I'm only setting up to start from September, when do I make my first return? Is it October 2016?

Thanks in advance for any advice offered.

Jim

Loughc · 12-08-2015 3:55pm

fitnessguru wrote: »

Just wondering the best way to register as a sole trader. Can I do it online through ROS? What would be the next step? Setting up a separate bank account, income would be under 20k per annum so I suppose that there's no necessity to register as a business as such and just operate in my own name.

Also as I'm only setting up to start from September, when do I make my first return? Is it October 2016?

Thanks in advance for any advice offered.

Jim

Hi Jim,

Apologies for the delay in replying to your query.

You should advise the tax office when you start a business as a self-employed person/sole trader. You must do this online using the Revenue Online Service – ROS, through the online eRegistration Service if you are:

An individual who is currently registered for PAYE Anytime;
An individual who is currently registered for Revenue’s Online Service – ROS

Yes setting up a seperate Bank Account is a good idea and it'll make it easier to track income and expenditures in an event of a Revenue Audit.

Yes if you register this year your first tax year will be Sep-Dec 2015 and you're first return would be due by 31st October 2015. Try to submit it as early as you can.

Any other queries don't hesitate to ask.

conorm720 · 02-11-2015 6:59pm

Hi,
I set up a sports business back in april selling a particular type of Sportswear. I contacted a company in the Uk who produced the goods for me. I then set up a website after advertising on social media for a few weeks selling my goods under the name of the product. Thankfully my business so far has been a major success with sales exceeding 22k. Payments are made on website via paypal which i then transfer to my own personal bank account. However I am now at the stage where I am worried I will get in trouble for not being legit. I want to expand my business so I can potentially sell to sport retailers and need advice on what procedures and anything else I might need to do.

Ps I am 21 years of age so any other advice on a business like this would be greatly appreciated.

Regards
Conor

BoltzmannBrain · 02-11-2015 9:34pm

Just set up a business myself.

If it's just you in the business, you need to set up as a sole trader. If you earn more than 34,000 a year, then you can consider the limited company option. It just works out cheaper that way taxwise.

You need to set up a business bank account, you can apply online to Ulster Bank or whoever, remember to click the start up option to avoid fees for the first year. The bank statement becomes a really useful record of your finances. Keep every receipt!

You've got to register with the Revenue.ie. This is the tax man. You don't try out smart the Rev, you keep everything above board. With your bank account, all your transactions will be there so it'll make it easy to file your taxes.

Do a one day start your own business course, theres loads of them around.

dbran · 03-11-2015 2:11pm

conorm720 wrote: »

Hi,
I set up a sports business back in april selling a particular type of Sportswear. I contacted a company in the Uk who produced the goods for me. I then set up a website after advertising on social media for a few weeks selling my goods under the name of the product. Thankfully my business so far has been a major success with sales exceeding 22k. Payments are made on website via paypal which i then transfer to my own personal bank account. However I am now at the stage where I am worried I will get in trouble for not being legit. I want to expand my business so I can potentially sell to sport retailers and need advice on what procedures and anything else I might need to do.

Ps I am 21 years of age so any other advice on a business like this would be greatly appreciated.

Regards
Conor

Hi Conor

Congratulations on starting your own business and making it a success. You are right to be worried as with the setup that you have it is only a matter of time before the revenue catch up with you. There is a easy audit trail for them to follow.

You will need to register as a sole trader with the revenue and regularise your business. You might also consider registering for VAT as if you are hoping to pitch to larger retailers this may help your case as it will not betray that you are just a small business. You may also find that your costs are reduced as you can claim back VAT that you incur on your supplies. A lot will depend on who your end customers are also.

You also need to keep proper books and records of all your business transactions going forward. That means opening up a proper business account and not just using a personal one.

You may also decide to move to a limited company if the size of the business continues to grow.

Best of luck

dbran

paddylonglegs · 21-08-2017 9:30am

Apologies for dragging up an old thread, I didn't want to start a new one for the sake of it.

I have just registered my business name as a sole trader, however i am in full time employment still and i didn't plan to start trading until I left my full time job next year (my wife registered me as a surprise!)

In the meantime however, I have been asked to take on a small job for someone and they want it to be entirely through the books.

I was hoping I could now invoice it under my own business. I have tried to research what to do next but finding it quite difficult to get information.

How do I go about getting this work invoiced? Do I need to provide a VAT number on the invoice? Do I need to provide any more information to anyone before i can move this along?

Any information would be great.

Thanks

Loughc · 22-08-2017 9:59am

Hi Paddylonglegs,

So it's relatively simple enough you can draw up an invoice using your registered Business Name, hold on to a copy for your own books and records as you'll need to pass it to your Accountant when doing up your Tax for 2017.

Regards VAT, are you VAT registered? Do you need to be VAT registered, will you pass the VAT threshold?

paddylonglegs · 22-08-2017 12:37pm

Loughc wrote: »

Regards VAT, are you VAT registered? Do you need to be VAT registered, will you pass the VAT threshold?

Hi loughc

No I'm not registered for vat and I was wondering whether I need to do this to be able to invoice someone. However I am still in full time employment so I don't know whether I will need to or not. I am not planning to take on a huge amount of work until may 2018 so I won't be taking much of an income from it.

In this case, I guess I don't need to register for at this early on?

Loughc · 22-08-2017 12:41pm

paddylonglegs wrote: »

Hi loughc

No I'm not registered for vat and I was wondering whether I need to do this to be able to invoice someone. However I am still in full time employment so I don't know whether I will need to or not. I am not planning to take on a huge amount of work until may 2018 so I won't be taking much of an income from it.

In this case, I guess I don't need to register for at this early on?

Currently in Ireland you are required to register for VAT if you provide, or believe you will generate turnover from the provision of services to the value of €37,500 in any continuous period of twelve months. This increases to €75,000 for the sale of products.

So I imagine you are offering Services if so your threshold would be €37,500. If your Revenue would be below that for 12 months you would be VAT exempt.

If that is the case, clearly on your Invoice that you are VAT exempt, this will make life easier for whoever you're invoicing.

paddylonglegs · 22-08-2017 10:16pm

Loughc wrote: »

Currently in Ireland you are required to register for VAT if you provide, or believe you will generate turnover from the provision of services to the value of €37,500 in any continuous period of twelve months. This increases to €75,000 for the sale of products.

So I imagine you are offering Services if so your threshold would be €37,500. If your Revenue would be below that for 12 months you would be VAT exempt.

If that is the case, clearly on your Invoice that you are VAT exempt, this will make life easier for whoever you're invoicing.

Thanks for the info, much appreciated.

One last question, I produced an item and then installed it, so i paid vat for all the materials I bought. Do I still charge vat on the final price, or is this not included as in vat exempt?

Loughc · 22-08-2017 10:18pm

paddylonglegs wrote: »

Thanks for the info, much appreciated.

One last question, I produced an item and then installed it, so i paid vat for all the materials I bought. Do I still charge vat on the final price, or is this not included as in vat exempt?

Still VAT exempt and you can't claim the VAT back on the materials you bought either.

Sole Trader

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