What age do you have to pay tax?

peter12321a

Hi, im 15 and im running a online business and was wondering what age do i have do start to pay tax on what i earn ?

Dazza

im in the same boat except im 17. I havent payed any tax on the things I sell. also wondering should I?

greendom

Age doesn't have anything to do with it. There are thresholds that if you exceed you will have to pay tax. VAT when your turnover exceeds a certain threshold and income tax when you make a certain amount of profit

peter12321a

greendom wrote: »

Age doesn't have anything to do with it. There are thresholds that if you exceed you will have to pay tax. VAT when your turnover exceeds a certain threshold and income tax when you make a certain amount of profit

Well that sucks

Mr. Loverman

Are we talking a few euros or a week or a significant amount of money?

I don't think Revenue are going to care about a 15 year old making a bit of pocket money from a little website.

But if you're some sort of genius and have a good bit of money coming from your online business, you need to at least attempt to pay tax. I would recommend you ring Revenue (their number is on their website) and ask for their advice.

tatli_lokma

I agree with Mr Loverman.

Also, consider this - if you are 15 and making a go of an online business, then this will stand to you when looking for work when you are older. Further to that, if you can show a prospective employer that at 15 you ran your own business, researched tax and legal implications and complied with all that, then it will reflect really well on you. Even though you are registered for tax, this does not mean you will have to pay it - as said above, it depends on the amount you are making. But even the experience of submitting a tax return each year will be a really good opportunity for you to gain some real knowledge of how a business is run.

Think of it as a challenge and an opportunity. Revenue are actually very helpful these days with info on this sort of thing - and possibly contact some of the advice places in your local county/council area. Places like citizens information, enterprise boards etc. Links below

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/employment/types_of_employment/self_employment/setting_up_a_business_in_ireland.html

http://www.djei.ie/press/2012/20120213.htm

http://www.enterpriseboards.ie/find_your_enterpirse_board.aspx

Mr. Loverman

Yep, Revenue are very helpful. Don't be afraid to ring them!

(I used to ring them all the time when I used to work in finance. Believe it or not they want to help you; they don't want to screw you over.)

Mrs OBumble

peter12321a wrote: »

Well that sucks

Ahh, no, it's just fair. Why should age make any difference?

The age at which you have to start paying tax is birth. That's to stop rich parents putting savings into bank accounts in your name.

But did you know that everyone - irrespective of age - does not pay tax on the first E8000-ish that they earn? (15000-ish if they're an employee rather than self-employed.)

That's why Revenue won't be too stressed if you're just earnign pocket money.

But if you're earning more than 8000, you need to be thinking about stuff like this.

tatli_lokma

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

But if you're earning more than 8000, you need to be thinking about stuff like this.

I would say that even if earning less than €8000 you should be thinking of this. It is all part of running a business and a valuable form of experience for you. The younger you are when get to grips with all this then the bigger the advantage to you later on. If you earn less than €8000 you will just put in a nil return each year to revenue, but it means that you will honestly be able to say that you have an employment record which goes back to when you were 15 and ran your own business online.

ABajaninCork

Well, I commend the OP for being responsible enough to think of the tax implications. A lot of older people who ought to know better should take note!

And I agree with Little Ted. If you put that you run your own business which is fully tax compliant on your CV, it'll look really good. A lot of employers will sit up and take notice of that.

Dynamo Roller1

Before you can vote

greendom

Dynamo Roller1 wrote: »

Before you can vote

It's their own fault for being so precocious

peter12321a

My earnings very a lot. For example in the summer when i had lots of time a made 360~ in one day but then some days I dont make anything. I am going to ring revenue on monday.

Thanks guys

Stheno

peter12321a wrote: »

My earnings very a lot. For example in the summer when i had lots of time a made 360~ in one day but then some days I dont make anything. I am going to ring revenue on monday.

Thanks guys

You need to total it up for the year.
As you are self employed if you exceed limits you've to do a tax return in October iirc

ResearchWill

peter12321a wrote: »

My earnings very a lot. For example in the summer when i had lots of time a made 360~ in one day but then some days I dont make anything. I am going to ring revenue on monday.

Thanks guys

Remember turnover is not profit, it is only the profit that you have to pay income tax and PRSI and universal social charge on. You can easily register with revenue. There is a website www.ros.ie you can do all your returns on that site, for income tax it will even work out the tax bill for you.

paul71

Stheno wrote: »

You need to total it up for the year.
As you are self employed if you exceed limits you've to do a tax return in October iirc

No limit applies. If you trade with the intent to make profit you are legally obliged to submit a form 11 irrespective of the level of turnover be it €10 or €10,000,000. This is true of someone who is 6 or 60.

peter12321a

Ok, thanks for the info guys.

paul71

peter12321a wrote: »

Ok, thanks for the info guys.

And good luck to you, we need entrepenuers of all ages in this country

peter12321a

paul71 wrote: »

And good luck to you, we need entrepenuers of all ages in this country

I know The money helps to

mikemac1

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

The age at which you have to start paying tax is birth. That's to stop rich parents putting savings into bank accounts in your name.

SSIA being one exception.

Rich parents opening accounts in their childrens names

peter12321a

mikemac1 wrote: »

SSIA being one exception.

Rich parents opening accounts in their childrens names

Whats ssia ?

mikemac1

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Savings_Incentive_Account

peter12321a

mikemac1 wrote: »

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Savings_Incentive_Account

Ok thanks

Dufftronic

You shouldn't get upset at paying taxes. That's what keeps the country moving. When people stop paying taxes you end up becoming Greece.... and no one wants that

peter12321a

Dufftronic wrote: »

You shouldn't get upset at paying taxes. That's what keeps the country moving. When people stop paying taxes you end up becoming Greece.... and no one wants that

We pay way to much TAX in my opinion...

ResearchWill

peter12321a wrote: »

We pay way to much TAX in my opinion...

You may be correct, but ask a simple question, how much would your education cost if there was no state money to pay the vast amount of the costs. While none of us like paying tax we all benefit from the things tax pays for.

A university education will cost in this country approx $3,000 a year for the registration charge (assuming no grant) a person not entitled to free fees will pay upto €20,000 and in the USA you can be talking a multiple of that figure.

peter12321a

ResearchWill wrote: »

You may be correct, but ask a simple question, how much would your education cost if there was no state money to pay the vast amount of the costs. While none of us like paying tax we all benefit from the things tax pays for.

A university education will cost in this country approx $3,000 a year for the registration charge (assuming no grant) a person not entitled to free fees will pay upto €20,000 and in the USA you can be talking a multiple of that figure.

I am all for paying for schooling but all the tax does not go to schools it mostly goes to helping the goverment sort out their own mistakes.

ResearchWill

peter12321a wrote: »

I am all for paying for schooling but all the tax does not go to schools it mostly goes to helping the goverment sort out their own mistakes.

The Irish Government spends about 55billionyes billion a year. It raises about 40billion in tax. Education casts about wait for it €9billion a year so about 18% of what we spend as a country and about 23% of the tax take. Health and Social Welfare are more again in fact about 20billion and 13billion. So at a very rough calculation about 100% of tax income pays for Education, Health and Social Protection.

We borrow about 15billion to pay for the rest and pay back the interest on our hue borrowings as a country.

Mrs OBumble

ResearchWill - I agree with your general point - but can you give us some links to where those figures come from?