The Taxman

[Joeychgo]

According to US Laws in my location if I made any amount over $43 a month, I have to report it as income. It is then taxed.

If you register as a business, you may be able to get away with less taxes.. but you don't have to register it unless it hits a certain threshold.

Overall, this is incorrect advice.

In regard to Federal taxes, you don't "register" as a business. Basically unless you are either a corporation or an LLC, the income is taxed like any other personal income.

This is why I always recommend a visit to an accountant if you make more then a few dollars on your forums. People don't really understand how it all works often times and can get in real trouble.

 

[davemacc]

I think any advice on here should be checked thoroughly. Different jurisdictions deal with tax in completely different ways.

As Joeychgo said, it is probably best to visit an accountant, or at least check with the revenue/tax collection service local to you.

Revenue services tend to be quite helpful when it comes to letting you know your liability, you may need an account for your allowances/writeoffs though

 

[Bozza]

I'm in the UK and just ran the forum as, essentially, a sole trader. I kept the forum money separate from my own, but in the eyes of HMRC it would have been seen as my income and taxable as such,

When ad revenues started increasing I spoke to an accountant who sorted it all out for me. For past years we looked at all incomes and then made all reasonable deductions we could including the obvious such as hosting costs but also allowances for using home as an office etc. The end result was a tax bill for me, not a massive one, but it set straight everything that needed taking care of.

We then registered a Limited Company which the forum now belongs to and the business has its own bank account that all money flows to and from. The accountant does the annual return stuff for me, for which he charges £800. Included in that is any informal advice required throughout the year.

As a director of a limited company I now have to do self-assessment every year, and he does this for me too for £100 per year.

If your site is earning even a penny of income then it should be declared. Catching up for past years was a bit of a pain - I'd not want to do it again in a hurry.

 

[karabaja2]

We then registered a Limited Company which the forum now belongs to and the business has its own bank account that all money flows to and from. The accountant does the annual return stuff for me, for which he charges £800. Included in that is any informal advice required throughout the year.

Can you tell me what is the cost of registration Ltd. in Britain? Is it true that everything can be done online? Is there a para-fiscal charges and how much approximately? For example in my country Ltd. must pay the "monumental fee" (fee for maintenance of monuments and historic buildings) "compensation for the forest", compensation for Tourism office, etc.
As an EU citizen, I am very interested in opening businesses in Britain.

 

[Strength101]

Can you tell me what is the cost of registration Ltd. in Britain? Is it true that everything can be done online? Is there a para-fiscal charges and how much approximately? For example in my country Ltd. must pay the "monumental fee" (fee for maintenance of monuments and historic buildings) "compensation for the forest", compensation for Tourism office, etc.
As an EU citizen, I am very interested in opening businesses in Britain.

£20!

See here; https://www.rapidformations.co.uk/package/digital-package/

 

[zappaDPJ]

Just be aware that although there are no significant costs involved in setting up a limited company you'll need to prepare and submit annual accounts which will usually require employing an accountant and depending on a number of factors, you may also need to have your accounts independently audited.