Thinking of starting a business?
If you are turning a hobby into a business or starting a whole new venture, here are some tips to help you get up and running without falling foul of the (UK) tax authorities.
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How to choose your accountant
Do you really need an accountant?
If your business is small and you have less than £15k turnover pa and are organised, willing to research various business guides and the HMRC website to keep up with tax, VAT, payroll, NIC legislation … then the answer is likely to be No.
If you are not organised, then either get organised or get an accountant, as at the very least they can save you the various HMRC penalties and interest that is charged for late registration, late submission of tax returns and late payments of tax.
Read more about How to choose your accountant
Tax deductible expenses
There is a great deal of confusion as to what you can and what you can’t deduct from your profit for tax purposes.
This tip gives a brief list of the types of expenditure you can claim, some of which you may already be deducting, some may be new to you and applicable to your business.
