Jewellery Business – don’t forget the taxman
If you were listening to or reading the coverage of last week’s Budget, you will probably have noticed an announcement about the abolition of annual tax returns – so with the end of the tax year (5 April) fast approaching, it seemed a good time to remind you about keeping up to date with your tax.
Although the budget promised an end to annual tax returns, if you have jewellery business you’ll still have to do one for 2014/15
Firstly, if you have a jewellery business you will still have to complete a tax return for 6 April 2014 to 5 April 2015. It will be some years yet until the annual tax return is actually abolished and in the meantime you still have obey the current rules.
You will need to complete a self-assessment tax return if you:
- Are a self-employed jewellery maker
- Or run a jewellery business alongside a salaried job
- Or have a limited company.
If you started your jewellery business in the past year, make sure you have contacted HMRC and that you will receive the details you need to submit a self-assessment return. It is your responsibility to accurately report your earnings.
As any of the tutors at London Jewellery School will tell you (we’re all self-employed) , although you have until January to submit the return it is much better to make sure you have all the paperwork collected up in April, even if you don’t finish the return right away. There is nothing worse in terms of a small business than searching for a missing invoice over a year since you paid it on the might before the tax return deadline – something that most self-employed people will have done at some point.
So use a little time over Easter of soon after to make sure you have information on your income and out goings for your jewellery business and put it all in one place so that when you are ready to tackle the tax return you have it all waiting.
If you are nervous about completing your tax return, there is lots of guidance on the HMRC website and if you fill in the form online there are lots of help-type buttons to click to make sure you are entering the right information.
It may be in a couple of years there will be a simpler way to report our earnings (and losses) but in the meantime don’t forget the taxman.