been running an online service and need advice on next step

OxiMoron

Hi all,
Firstly thanks to everyone who has posted such great advice on this forum. extremely helpful to us newbies.
So, I am currently running a website that offers a repair service for a common consumer electronics device. I am collecting about 4k per month from it and i would think 70% of that is from customers at the door paying cash.

I also have a well paid full time job and pay taxes etc on that.

My question to you all is, Should i now register as a sole trader and start to file paperwork or should i just keep schtumm seeing as all my cash flow is either in cash or through paypal. I understand that i should be declaring my extra income but i really need some advice on what would be the best way to go about it?

I have suggested to the missus i turn this into full time job but she is terrified that in this economy i could easily be left strugggling.

Any advice would be gratefullly appreciated.

RedXIV

At 4K a month turnover I'd say just pay a decent accountant to look after everything and just go straight as a sole trader

Kinetic^

Agree with the above, get an accountant and let him worry about it all.

OxiMoron

Thanks for the replies,
so should i set myself up as a sole trader first? Do i need to announce anythng to the my employee you think?

Kinetic^

OxiMoron wrote: »

Thanks for the replies,
so should i set myself up as a sole trader first? Do i need to announce anythng to the my employee you think?

Sole trader would be fine but I'd probably speak with an accountant before doing anything. If they say recommend going as a sole trader, say you'll do it yourself as it's easy enough.

In relation to your job, check your employment contract to see if there is anything in there that says you can't work outside of your 40 hours or similar.

AndyJB

OxiMoron wrote: »

Hi all,
Firstly thanks to everyone who has posted such great advice on this forum. extremely helpful to us newbies.
So, I am currently running a website that offers a repair service for a common consumer electronics device. I am collecting about 4k per month from it and i would think 70% of that is from customers at the door paying cash.

I also have a well paid full time job and pay taxes etc on that.

My question to you all is, Should i now register as a sole trader and start to file paperwork or should i just keep schtumm seeing as all my cash flow is either in cash or through paypal. I understand that i should be declaring my extra income but i really need some advice on what would be the best way to go about it?

I have suggested to the missus i turn this into full time job but she is terrified that in this economy i could easily be left strugggling.

Any advice would be gratefullly appreciated.

Firstly, good for you!

Here’s some food for thought.......
1) As previous posters have mentioned have an accountant look at it for you.
2) With monthly turnover of 4k you’ll hit the VAT registration requirement fairly quickly. For a service once turnover hits €37.5k or above you must reg’ for VAT. Have a look at VAT info.
3) As a sole trader you declare income from the service the year after receiving it eg payments received in 2011 are declared by Oct 2012.
4) You have a 4k monthly turnover, but what is actual profit on that?
5) Profit is “cash received doing the service” LESS “expenses paid out offering the service” eg cost of website/hosting/paypal charges/phone calls/postage/cost of parts etc etc.
6) When you're VAT registered your prices will go up, so you may lose customers. Upside is you can reclaim any VAT you pay out on items bought for the business.
7) Keep doing the day job and the sideline until you chat with an accountant at the very least.
8) I don’t mean to be a kill joy but the revenue are chasing every cent they can and it would be a shame if you had a viable business that runs aground due to lack of paperwork, so refer to point 1!!

Best of luck.

OxiMoron

Great,
That's good advice all and I shall follow up on it.
Much appreciated