Liability & Legality

**kthdsn** · 09-08-2006, 05:29 AM

Hey everyone, I'm looking for some advice.

I have my adsense account, I haven't made enough for my first payment yet (hopefully I will soon) but I was wondering if I should be doing anything from a business/tax point of view. Can I just accept the payment and leave it at that or should I be telling inland revenue that I'm self employed and declare it as income?

I don't want to get into trouble, but it seems like a lot of hassle

**againes** · 09-08-2006, 09:39 AM

I run the adsense payments through my business (sole trader) account. I think they count anythin under £14k (in income) as a hobby/additional income.

**dogisland** · 09-08-2006, 10:02 AM

You'll need to tell the inland revenue.

You'll probably have to start filling in self-assesment forms if you don't already.

**QualityNonsense** · 09-08-2006, 11:26 AM

Declaring yourself self-employed is very simple - you download a two page PDF from the Inland Revenue website and post it off.

**kthdsn** · 09-08-2006, 12:50 PM

Thanks for the advice, I'll get on their website sometime and sort it out.

**imported_mattd** · 09-08-2006, 04:47 PM

I've also been wondering about this. I probably wont top 1000 quid a year this year or next but even so dont want the inland revenue on you

I've have a nose around and look into where we really stand on this.

**againes** · 09-11-2006, 05:19 AM

Quote:

Declaring yourself self-employed is very simple.

yeah its easy, they also run free classes on doing your accounts, they are quite good.

**imported_mattd** · 09-11-2006, 11:41 AM

I just phoned up the tax office about this to try and get a straight answer.

They weren't really sure about where they stand on the issue! I asked if I should register as self employed and the woman wasn't sure so she put me on hold for a few minutes whilst she spoke to someone more senior.

They suggested that I should write a letter giving a rough outline of what I am doing, and the sorts of profits I am making, and they'll look into it. After that they may just "add it into my rates" or advise further.

So there you go - no straight answer. I suspect that for someone in my position (making maybe £500-1000 a year) they'll just whack it on the usual tax, more you'll probably have to setup a business.

**kthdsn** · 09-11-2006, 12:53 PM

Thanks for the info! I'll try phoning them too.

**vorboompsio** · 09-11-2006, 01:01 PM

Dunno if this'll help but I worked in a UK tax office a few years back, and I'd say that for any income thats at all ambiguous, you 'd be a lot safer asking for a detailed confirmation in writing, get the name of who you are dealing with and keep copies of ALL forms you send.

The thrust there even back then was a bit like telesales (cept i dont THINK they record all the calls)- get everything done by phone because it was faster and left no 'footprints'...