Courier Business Stuff

someone wrote:
One minor point, the vat man will expect paying even if you have ceased trading and you are sitting on the dole.

The only way to protect personal assets is to go Ltd at the same time.

We got into difficulties last year and the “late payment of commercial invoices” legislation looks positivly benign.

Its something like 5% then 10% up to 30% surcharge.

I am registered via a limited company & I don’t get any sleepless nights

I think that if he’s unsure about registering for VAT then trading through a limited company might be a step too far for him.

The best way of avoiding that sort of problem is to put ALL the VAT element of every payment you receive into a dedicated savings account. Pay your VAT liabilities out of the account each quarter and just leave the balance in there gaining interest. At the end of the year you’ve got a nice lump sum to use towards your income tax liability (or to spend on beer, depending on how you manage your finances).

someone wrote:

I claim mileage allowance on one van and a 4×4 as oppossed to renting to the LTd company
Not sure if the tax man would wear it if you did this as a sole trader but I may be wrong

No problems doing it as a sole trader as long as your turnover is beneath the VAT threshold – doesn’t matter whether you’re VAT registered or not, just that your turnover is less than the VAT threshold. Lots of £££ benefit for the people that others describe as ‘busy fools’.