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Legal issues related to selling craft-work

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Les Symonds:
How are your 'legal  minds'? As a PAYE paying taxpayer in full time employment, if I start making and selling turned items at craft fairs, shows etc, do I need to be aware of issues such as registering as a business, informing the Inland Revenue etc? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Philip Greenwood:
Hello

To start this off all the income need to be recorded like wise your expensesrs to. You need to inform your local tax office and they will give you lots of help, this shows to them that you want to get it right.
 
NI may need to be paid as well but the tax office will tell you.
 
You will have to look at insurance as well to cover you, and depending on what items you make and sell you may have to comply with safety for toys and if you sell any lamps this will come under electrics regs.

You will need to disply your name, address on your stand and if not trading under your own name you will have to check the name is not registered. Sorry, but yes a lot to think about. I know yreceivel recive lot of help from others on here.

Regards
Philip

bodrighywood:
If you sell your work you need to register as at least a sole trader withing three months of your first sale. You don't need to submit your first set of earnings until you have completed a full financial year (April to April) Also, ideally, get PPI insurance (about (30+ a year). Most of the decent fairs will not accept you unless you can produce proof of it. Registering is easy and if you don't make a profit then it can be set against your main earnings and possibly give you a tax rebate. The fine for not doing so is pretty heavy and not worth the risk. It is a simple process and after doing the first one involves little more than a break down of your income and expenditure, easily done with as spreadsheet.

Pete

Les Symonds:
That's great, thanks Phil and Pete....plenty there for me to think about.

Les (gwyntog)

TONY MALIN:
As a one time beekeeper I sold many hundreds of pounds of honey. None of the income was ever declared to the tax people.
There was a case some years ago where a beekeeper was challenged by the Revenue. He successfully showed that he was not making a profit, in fact taking into account all his costs he was making a loss. The matter was dropped and I'm not aware of any subsequent case. ( no doubt somone will dispute this)
There is of course a distinction between an amateur who pursues it as a hobby, and a commercial man who does it for a living.
Even a commercial man is likely to need some other means of supplementing his income.

I think the same principles apply to selling craft.

Tony Malin

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