My sideline hobby / second job makes a bit of money (photography, mainly weddings) and looks like this year will have just over a grand in profit after all expenses, buying some nice new equipment etc…Not bad for 6 days work.

I’ll only have to give the tax man nearly half of it so,

should I just blow it then ?
If so, what? would have to be at least remotly associated with photography

Any or all of these. Photoshop, Lightroom, Tripod, Flash, Lense.

Remember, like bikes you can never have enough camera equipment.

Training course run by a mate? 😉

Hey,

can you offset things like this even if you don’t have any kind of company? Just interested, because I’m hoping to make a bit of money on the side, but then to spend it on sort of work related toys. Can I just cancel it out as far as tax goes then?

Joe

Joe – strictly speaking mate you can only claim expenditure that is wholly & exclusively expended for the purpose of the trade, profession or vocation (Section 74 ICTA 1988)

In a nutshell unless the expense is actually work related it’s not allowable & your work related ‘toys’ possibly don’t qualify unless you run a ‘toy shop’ 🙂

Have a look @ the HMRC website or speak to an accountant if you are unsure.

Are you allowing for depreciation on the capital cost of your equipment? You might find that takes care of most if not all of your operating profit (eg £5000 written down at 20 per cent a year equals £1000 in depreciation). Don’t forget you also have to add in the proceeds of any equipment you sell.

good point andym

How much would the following loose a year? 25% of the value or less or more?

Nikon D300 (new 2008)
Nikon 18-200VR lens (2007)
Nikon D70 (2005)
Sigma 18-50 EX f2.8
Metz 45CL-4
Nikon SB800
Nikon grip for the D300
8 gig sandisc Ultra 3 CF card
2 x 1 gig viking CF cards
1 x 4 gig sandisc Ultra 3 CF card
a suit
a pair of shoes
a pile of batteries
a PC 400 gig of hard drive 2 gig of ram,
display wedding albums x 3 that probably cost 200.00 to build

SEXIST !

.

“Tax person”

.

tsk tsk

Not sexist at all since it was a man called Paul from the tax office who wrote me a letter asking me, next year, to fill in any additional income as self employed on my self assessment instead as just other income.

lesbo! 😀

How much would the following loose a year? 25% of the value or less or more?

IIRC the depreciation rate is set by HMRC. For most capital equipment it’s 20 per cent a year but I think for computer equipment and software it’s 33 per cent. Have a look at the guidance notes that come with the self-assessment form.

Joe – strictly speaking mate you can only claim expenditure that is wholly & exclusively expended for the purpose of the trade, profession or vocation (Section 74 ICTA 1988)

In a nutshell unless the expense is actually work related it’s not allowable & your work related ‘toys’ possibly don’t qualify unless you run a ‘toy shop’ [:-)]

Right, so if I sell software to use with juggling toys, and buy juggling toys with the profits (used for the testing of the software) would that be a goody?

Joe

Capital expenditure on business equipment will qualify for a Capital Allowance relief against your Taxable profits. The following link HERE should help explain it better. As andym says there are different rates for different things.

coolhandluke looking @ your list of items above, things like the suit, shoes, batteries & CF cards won’t qualify for CA’s although the full cost of the batteries & CF cards should be claimed as an expense & not included in the Capital Allowance pool. Most of the other items probably will qualify for CA’s @ the appropriate rate. If you are still unsure then seek professional help.

HTH

You can get a top-of-the-range iPod as it’s a cost effective backup/viewer out in the field. Think outside the box, there are lots of things like that, props etc.

And don’t forget your travel at 40p per mile (check that, it might be more now). Those miles can really add up. I know when I used to work as a freelance writer, they made the difference between making a profit and breaking even. 😉

Snigle
;o)

Right, so if I sell software to use with juggling toys, and buy juggling toys with the profits (used for the testing of the software) would that be a goody?

If the juggling toys are used solely for business purposes i.e. testing out the software & not used for any private entertainment or non-business purpose etc then they are probably allowable. However surely in this case you would buy the juggling toys before or during the development of the software & not afterwards??