freelance bass players

[OliverBlackman]

Does anyone know the laws on being a self employed freelance player? Do you have to set yourself up as a business and register all incomes and out goings with some tax people? Or is it as simple as you can do a session or gig and pick up the cheque and keep it to yourself?

Any help on clearing this up for me would be much welcomed, ollie

[RhysP]

I don't know about having to register as a business but you'd certainly have to register with the Inland Revenue as self employed, and declare any money you earn in your annual tax return.

[Major-Minor]

All income is taxable !
You need to keep a record of every penny you earn as a freelancer, but also note down all your expenditure - new instruments, amps, strings, repairs, stage clothing, dry cleaning, car servicing, fuel, heating cleaning and lighting of your practise space, any study materials you buy, CDs books etc, office stationary, accountants fees, mobile phone bills, landline bills, broadband, computers and other high tech stuff, anything at all that you can argue is essential to your being able to function as a musician.
You can offset all these things (or a percentage of say your phone bill) against your earnings to reduce your tax bill

Keep a record of the mileage you do while gigging and all your fuel receipts.

You don't need to be a registered business but you need to inform the Inland Revenue who will then send you the relevant Tax paperwork.


The Major

[discreet]

Agree with all comments here. The days of trousering the cash and sauntering off with a light laugh are long gone, I'm afraid (sigh).

[hubrad]

Self-employed, deffo.. I do this as well as employed work, and fill in the dreaded Tax Return each year. I sometimes pay extra tax, sometimes not.

Against: A bit more hassle, and you may have to shell out some extra money in tax assuming you already earn more than your personal tax allowance.
For: You're now legal, and you may be able to reclaim some of that tax you've already paid from the employed work. You can claim various expenses incurred in the self-employed work against your overall taxable income.

Best thing is to talk to your local tax office - they are there to make everything work properly and will furnish you with all the relevant information.

[url="http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/selfemployed/"]http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/selfemployed/[/url]

[OldGit]

The MU has a huge long list of stuff you can claim as expenses against youe earnings as a musician.
Keep it legal, do your tax return (or get an acountant to), stick to the MU list and you'l likely never pay any tax unless you are out every night earning hundreds per gig.

[lowdown]

+1 to what the Major says.

Been a self employed freelance muso for over 30 years now.
Always been upfront with the taxman,
he in return has given me no hassle.



Garry

Edited June 5, 2010 by lowdown

[thepurpleblob]

[quote name='blackmn90' post='858167' date='Jun 5 2010, 02:03 PM']Does anyone know the laws on being a self employed freelance player? Do you have to set yourself up as a business and register all incomes and out goings with some tax people? Or is it as simple as you can do a session or gig and pick up the cheque and keep it to yourself?

Any help on clearing this up for me would be much welcomed, ollie[/quote]

As the saying goes, there are only two certainties in life - death and taxes. You have to pay tax. Exactly how you set up to do that has lots of variation. You should find (get recommended) an accountant and have a chat. Being self employed has lots of benefits (e.g., your car, phone etc. can probably be partly offset against tax) but you are unlikely to know the rules. This is where an accountant comes in. With a bit of luck you probably won't have to pay much tax - but you DO have to do the paperwork. A good start is to get used to keeping every receipt for everything.

[OliverBlackman]

cheers guys its great to have that all cleared up as i wasnt totally sure, hope im not the only person (yn)

thanks again, ollie