Sole Traders

Sole trader tax return services

Martax Accountants is an independent firm of Chartered Certified Accountants who specialise in providing sole trader tax return services.

What is sole trader or self employment

A sole trader is self-employed individual who sets up and owns its own business. A sole trader or sole proprietor is a business owned and controlled by one person who takes all the decisions, responsibility and profits from the business they run. You may decide to employ people in your business but you will be the ultimately owner of your business.

As a sole trader you will have to manage your sole trader tax by completing your annual self assessment tax return form.

How to set up a Sole trader business?

Register as a sole trader if any of the following applies to you:-

• You earned more than £1,000 from self-employment between 6 April 2018 and 5 April 2019
• You need to prove you’re self-employed
• You want to make voluntary Class 2 National Insurance payments to help you qualify for benefits

Sole traders must firstly register with HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and follow certain instructions on running and naming their business.

To set up as a sole trader, you need to register for Self Assessment and file a tax return every year. This is a crucial part of the process and it has to be done correctly, whenever you have any concerns or questions about Self Assessment, or need help registering or filing, reach out to Martax accountants for our sole trader tax return services. We will direct you through the whole process and provide help and advice when needed.

What taxes do I have to pay as a sole trader?

As a sole trader in the UK, you will be required to pay income tax, Class 2 National Insurance and Class 4 National Insurance if your taxable profits are above a certain level. Know more about Income and NIC Rates for Sole Traders.

Due Dates

As a sole trader, you are required to prepare and submit your sole trader tax return and pay any tax (if any) to HMRC by 31 January following the end of the tax year.

For example, for the tax year 2018/19 (Period: 6 April 2018 to 5 April 2019), you will be required submit your tax return and pay your tax liability (if any) by 31 January 2020.

Your responsibilities

Being a sole trader, you have certain responsibilities such as:

• Keep records of your sales and expenses for at least 5 years after the 31 January submission deadline of the relevant tax year
• Send a self-assessment tax return every year by 31 January
• Pay income tax on your profits and Class 2 and Class 4 National Insurance

How can we help

At Martax, we provide specialist sole trader tax return services, including the following: