few questions about setting up online business

blankAs

Im assisting a colleague in setting up an online business specialising in irish products and exporting to a specific European market. There are some questions i can't find the answer to anywhere perhaps someone here could help.
When registering a business can it be registered to a council house address? As it is online a premises is not required.
How long can he spend outside of the country legally? due to the export side travel is required.
He has a family member living in this location and they will help with the distribution. Should this person be payed on book or say nothing about them? Alternatively should this person be named in the company formation ie director/sec?
again since this is all online and online banking is there a real need for an accountant?
many thanks in advance for any answers provided!

JMR

blankAs wrote: »

When registering a business can it be registered to a council house address? As it is online a premises is not required.

I am assuming you are intending to form a Limited Company. Your registered business address does not need to be owned by the business owner, you do however need the permission of the owner, which in this case is the local authority I presume.

blankAs wrote: »

How long can he spend outside of the country legally? due to the export side travel is required.

There is no restriction on how long a company director must remain within the country in which the company is registered. Perhaps you are mixing this up with tax laws?

blankAs wrote: »

He has a family member living in this location and they will help with the distribution. Should this person be payed on book or say nothing about them? Alternatively should this person be named in the company formation ie director/sec?

This question can only be answered by yourself! Will the company make enough profit and will the individual in question contribute enough to the generation of said profit to warrant paying them a wage? Why would the family member be willing to work for free?
Who are you going to "say nothing" to about the family member? Revenue?

blankAs wrote: »

again since this is all online and online banking is there a real need for an accountant?

An online business is a business that just happens to trade online. Whether you trade online or in a bricks and mortar store is not the deciding factor for whether the company should employ the services of an accountant.

Maybe, you have already proven the market for your product but if not, I would urge you to sell on eBay or similar first to prove to yourself that a market exists for the product(s) you intend selling.

sconhome

blankAs wrote: »

Im assisting a colleague in setting up an online business specialising in irish products and exporting to a specific European market. There are some questions i can't find the answer to anywhere perhaps someone here could help.
When registering a business can it be registered to a council house address? As it is online a premises is not required.
How long can he spend outside of the country legally? due to the export side travel is required.
He has a family member living in this location and they will help with the distribution. Should this person be payed on book or say nothing about them? Alternatively should this person be named in the company formation ie director/sec?
again since this is all online and online banking is there a real need for an accountant?
many thanks in advance for any answers provided!

When you say business do you mean a properly formed company, paying taxes registered in Ireland?

A few things point to me that this is a hobby business where a bit of money on the side is being made and we'll keep it quiet as a nixer.

Re the council house and its occupant, that has been answered, you need the owners permission to locate a business there. If there is any social welfare payments being made to the occupier they are not likely to look favourable on the house hosting a business whether online or otherwise.

Anyone working for a business should be paid or else employed as a company director so they are accountable for the business too.

Re accountant are you or your colleague familiar with accounts and tax returns? If not you need an accountant.

mneylon

blankAs wrote: »

When registering a business can it be registered to a council house address? As it is online a premises is not required.

Others have addresses this, but it's also important to check the zoning.
Some housing estates are zoned to now allow any form of business - even casual
The main reason for this is that deliveries etc., can disrupt the neighbours, take up parking spaces etc.,
What some people do is use the address of their solicitor or accountant as the company's registered address for legal matters.

blankAs wrote: »

again since this is all online and online banking is there a real need for an accountant?

Unless you like paying revenue too much tax, fines or going to jail .. then yes, you do need an accountant
At minimum you should talk to an accountant about how to setup the business correctly and also have a talk with them about what records you need to keep and how.
You might be able to get away with having a "book keeper", but advise from an accountant when you're launching will save you a fortune later (when it's too late)

tarmon

Local Enterprise Offices often run short courses on book-keeping for small business. They are a great and inexpensive way to learn about keeping records and accounting. It wont remove the need for an accountant but you can do a lot of the basic record keeping yourself and this will cut down the amount of work you'll need an accountant to do for you.

blankAs

Thanks that is all most useful.
What about registering for vat? Its a tricky one! can a sole trader register at a later date or should they then form a ltd company? can vat be claimed on export shipping costs and on costs such as storage/transport in another eu country?

mneylon

blankAs wrote: »

Thanks that is all most useful.
What about registering for vat? Its a tricky one! can a sole trader register at a later date or should they then form a ltd company? can vat be claimed on export shipping costs and on costs such as storage/transport in another eu country?

There's quite a bit of information about VAT registration on the Revenue site:
http://www.revenue.ie/en/tax/vat/guide/registration.html

A sole trader or an LTD can register for VAT, but you don't need to until you hit the threshold.

As for what you can claim etc., you'd need to check with Revenue. General rule is that you if you are VAT registered any product or service that you buy (and pay VAT on) you can offset the VAT you pay against your own VAT bill. But there are plenty of exceptions, so you should probably get advice from an accountant