Hi, I was wondering if anyone here from the UK could help me with a dilemma i'm having. In July I am set to receive a lump sum from the Apple app store which I think will be classed as earnings. I have been a student/out of the country so long that I don't really understand how tax works. I am currently registered as unemployed, I don't have a limited company and I have been selling this app purely under my own name. When the money is wired to my bank, what is likely to happen? If I or someone else notifies the tax office how much are they going to want to take and how much can I keep a hold of? The earnings are not continuous and I have received most of the amount within the space of two weeks. If the tax office look at it as pro rata earnings then that would put me on one hell of a salary, but thats not the case. Please help me sort this out, it's all gone way over my head. Thanks.
I guess it would depend on how big the sum is tbh. If the tax man were to look at your finances I'm guessing he'd simply treat it as income. If its over the standard UK personal allowance (about £6500) then you would be expected to pay income tax on any amount over that. ie if you are paid £10K, you pay income tax on £3500. If it was me, and if its a big whack of cash - I'd keep back 25% of the total sum. That way if you do get caught out - you can just hand over a cheque. Then again, I might be inclined just to keep quiet about it..
It all depends on the sum of money. Obviously I don't expect you to disclose personal information here but as chief says if the payment is over £6500 then you will have to pay tax on it. You are entitled to tax relief on anything under that amount. Are you able to take payment any other way than wired direct?
I'm estimating it to be about £8000 in one lump sum, not that I intend to show off my earnings but it might help someone with the maths. So I would pay what percentage on anything over £6500? And it has to come in wired direct. There's no avoiding it being flagged by inland revenue as Apple will have declare they paid me for their own records. I have a "family friend" who is an accountant and he is prepared to "sort it out" for me so I get to keep all of it but he wants 10% in return for his services and although I trust him and it's a good guy it seems silly to pay him such money if I can do it on my own properly. I don't really want to call the IR because then I'm just drawing attention to it immediately.
8K from the app store? What app was that for. Man i should write some apps might pay my student loans off lol
you need to see what the minimum income is before you have to report it. Open a swiss account and change where the money goes.
If you stay outside the country for more then then 180 days in a tax year and can stay in a country for less then three months at a time, then technically you can get away with paying no taxes. Failing that find a country with low tax, marry someone there and declare your principle domain that country.
Isn't that for foreign earned income? I know you fuckers get to enjoy not having to deal w/ that shit each year when you live abroad (I think the US is the only place that actively taxes their expatriated citizens) but it sounds to me like he's earning dough in the UK (sort of). Wouldn't that be just like living there?
You should ask the tax office. They will make you pay tax on it, but they will also probably advise you on the best course of action on working out how to pay it. You might want to watch out if you are claiming unemployment benefit. The last thing you want to do is try to hide the earnings from the tax office. A very bad idea indeed. When you get your tax return, you can indicate your earning for the year and pay it there and then I think, but I am not certain.
You could contact the financial ombudsman - they're indepedent, so will tell you the facts anbout what you can and can't do. I'm not sure its their exact area of expertise, but I'm sure they'd be able to tell you.
to put it simply, depends on how much money you make per annum. regarding whether you should look into forming a LTD company.. http://www.smallbusinesspro.co.uk/small-business-finance/sole-trader.html don't be afraid, you can set up a company with something under 100 GBP and you only need adhere to paper filling each year, but otherwise are well protected and it's easier to sell the goodwill. The initial share capital can be something like 100GBP, one pound per share.
