^OPM^

heading might sound a bit funny but what i want to know is-if i begin marketing a product for a company-i dont wish to go into hassle and expense of forming a company case i fails-but if say after 6 months of selling a product for this company i am making some money at it can i then make it legit so yes i pay tax on my earnings but also so i can claim tax relief on my expenses for advertising etc etc that i incurred during my first 6 months and so forth?

Lee247

Go self-employed. You only have to pay your NI monthly, nominal amount, and register with the Inland Revenue. If it fails, your expenses will obviously be more than your turnover, so no tax to pay and you are at least legit. Good luck

^OPM^

but while i am doing this to see if i can make money at it i will still be doing my day job for someone else-Im thinking it will take say 3 years of hard work to get a nice income from this job-so for say that time i will need to stay a wage slave to someone else-sorry if i sound dumb but always been employed since i left school so dont know ins or outs to having a business even a one man show-any sites to read on web?

Lee247

Oh You didn't say you already had a job. Then I'm sorry, stumped. All you could do is test the water, if what you make is nominal, keep shtum, but if it takes off, protect yourself and declare it on your tax form, claiming your expenses against it.

^OPM^

thats how i meant but say after 6 months i dont make anything-or a nominal amount can i then claim i was a business and claim my expenses back ? and as yet alway sbeing a wage slave i dont fill in a tax return

Lee247

I think there is a column for extra income on the tax form, and expenses to claim back, you would have to ask for a tax return, I think I would see how the venture works first, but keep all receipts just incase. Good luck

^OPM^

ok thank you-may i ask one more thing-are you self employed or wage slave?

Lee247

Self employed- it's the best

^OPM^

so i hear-what do u do may i ask?

the moose

Form a company anyway - it costs you almost nothing, and if you don't need it, you can always close it down in a year or so.

Mungo

You can't "claim your expenses" back in any case. Even if you formed a company and filed a return of losses (the expenses set against zero or minimal income) you could only carry those losses forward until such a time as the company made profits to offset against.

TopBanana

Why?