Hey guys So i'm from the Uk, But i was thinking if i started earning serious income, what would i need to do? Become a sole trader, set up a limited company? self employed? Anyone got experience in this area? Thanks James
Im simply Self Employed, registered with Inland Revenue, and you can pretty much choose what you want to call yourself when filling in forms, unless you are something specific like a web designer. If you're selling goods then Sole Trader i think. If theres a bunch of you it obviously makes sense to register as a company. I was advised in the past that if i ever wanted to be VAT registered before actually reaching that yearly income stage that it makes sense to do so as it makes a company look larger and all that, i dont have a company though, but im guessing you can be vat registered as self employed, yeah i think you can. You dont need to be earning big to register you or a business. You can officially be employed by a company and have your own business seperate as long as you pay taxes on both incomes.
Liability is a key issue. If the nature of your business puts you at risk of winning lawsuits by any type of creditors in particular, then definitely go Ltd.
I personally am going to register my companies as Limited, simply for legal reasons in the future. Hopefully legal issues will never arise, but you never know what people may do to try and take your business down!