The Trials and Tribulations of attending Craft Fairs

I have been doing Craft Fairs for a few years now and am invited to do lots. I generally do them around Christmas as sales are good but recently I have been trying them at other times of the year with mixed results. The last one I attended had no visitors to it and the only sales I made were too other stall holders, thankfully there was no charge for the table you just had to give a percentage of your takings. I don’t think the organizer was very happy as she vanished before the end of the event and we all left without paying her!

It has made me think though about checking events before attending to make sure they are worth doing. So I have compiled a list of questions to ask organizer before saying I will attend and I thought I would share it with you:

Have you run an event like this before?
If yes how many people attended?
Where do you plan to advertise the event?
How much is the table hire?
Do you expect to get a percentage of my takings?
How big are the tables?
How many other stall holders will be attending?
Do you ensure there is no duplication of goods for sale?
Do you expect a raffle prize?
Is there parking nearby?
Is there anyone available to help with unpacking the car?

I’m sure there are more but I think that covers it for now! I hope all the events you attend are profitable for you – Mrs Bath xx

Still confused about doing your tax return?

The dread of the Tax return

About a year ago I did a blog on “Do I need to be self-employed”.  That blog was on the accounts side of things and I am hoping this blog will be more about filling in a tax return for self-employed businesses.

I will set this out as question & answers.   If I do not cover something you wish to know please comment and I will try to help.

Q1. Tax return paper or computer?

At this present time you can still file a paper tax return but they are phasing this out.  I personally would recommend using the Revenue & Customs own software on their website to complete your tax return.  The software works out the tax due for you and you can even pay online.  You will need to register in good time to use this service however.

Q2. How do I register on-line?

To register online is easy.  Just go to the following link and answer the questions.  HMRC will send you a code through the post in about 7 days.  Once you have this you can log onto the online services and pick the services you wish to use.

https://online.hmrc.gov.uk/registration/

Q3. What sections of the tax return should I fill in?

On the first page of the tax return it will ask you to cross the sections that apply to you.  The most common sections are employment and self-employment.  There are two sections for Self-employment.  SA103S is a short version to be filled if your turnover is below £77,000 or SA103F which is a full length version to be filled in if your turnover is £77,000 or more.   If you have more than one business you will need to fill in a separate self-employment page for each business.

The employment section is easily filled in.  All the information you need will be on your P60.  You will only need to fill in your gross wages and the tax deducted, these should be clearly indicated on your P60.  If you have more than one employment you will need to fill in a separate employment page for each one.

There are other sections you may need to fill in.  Like interest received.  You will get this information from your bank accounts.  If it is a joint account remember to split the interest evenly between all account holders.   If you have a number of bank accounts add all the interest together.   If you have received any dividends in the year you will need to put this information on the return.  You will normally receive dividend vouchers showing the information you need.   Pensions, if you receive or pay into a pension you will need to fill this section too.

Make sure you read the form well and that nothing else applies to you.   If you have a refund then remember to fill in your bank details or indicate if you would like to receive a cheque otherwise your refund will be kept on account and go against any future tax payments due.

Q4. How can I pay my tax?

There are a few ways to pay for your tax.  If you fill in your tax return early enough then you will receive a tax calculation through the post with a payment slip attached which will tell you how to pay.  If you do your return online then you can pay online.   You can also pay via standing order or direct debit but unless these are payments made in advanced then interest may be incurred.  The last way is through your coding notice, if you are employed then you can pay the extra tax through your wages or if you have a taxed pension it can be taken from this.   You can pay lump sums off your tax bill at any time you do not have to wait till the deadline to pay your tax bill.

Q5 What are the deadlines?

The deadline for filling a paper return is the 31^st October, to file online is the 31^st January.   If you do not fill the return in by the deadline then you will incur a £100 fine, after 3 months this will increase see line below for details

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/sa/deadlines-penalties.htm

Deadline for tax payments are 31^st January for the first year tax due plus the first payment on account.  After the first year you will have to pay the first payment on account and any balancing payment due by the 31^st January.   The second payment on account is due by the 31^st July.  Payments on account are worked out on the following year’s tax.  So if your tax in 2011/12 being your first year of tax was £100 then in January you would have to pay £100 plus the 1^st payment on account of £50 totalling £150.  In July, the 2^nd payment on account is due and that would be £50.  January 2012/13 your tax due ends up being £200 the Revenue would deduct your payments on account of £100 and ask you for the balance to be paid by 31^st January.  So in January you would pay the balance £100 plus the 1^st payment on account £100, in July the 2^nd payment on account would be due of £100.

Q6. What is overlap relief?

A tax year is from 6^th April to the 5^th April, to make life easier I would try to have a yearend of 31^st March either by starting your business on the 1^st April or by doing a short period on your first tax return, I.e. October 2012 to 31^st March 2013.   The following year would then be 1^st April 2013 to 31^st March 2014.   If you do your accounts as 1^st Oct 2012 to 30^th September 2013 it will be overlapping two tax years then you will need to work out overlap relief.   This means taking out the portion of income and expenses that goes over the year from 6^th April 2013 to 30^th September 2013, this portion will need to be added to the following year’s tax return.   On your first years accounts you will pay tax on the whole period i.e. October to September.  The April to September portion of tax will affectively be paid twice but the overpayment will be carried over year upon year till you cease trading then the tax paid in the first year will come off your tax bill.   There are boxes on the self-employment part of the tax return that you will need to fill in

Well I hope this has been helpful and if you have any questions please comment below.

Mrs Jewels