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A sole trader is the simplest type of business structure defined in UK law. It refers to an individual who owns their own business and retains all the profits from it. When starting up, sole traders must complete a straightforward registration with HM Revenue and Customs as self-employed for tax and National Insurance purposes.
Also sole traders must also pay Income Tax they do this by filling in the self-assessment form which also allows the Inland Revenue to calculate Class 4 NIC; this is simple to fill the information needed is usually costs, sales and profits; if turnover is above £15,000 you may have to keep a detailed profit and loss and balance sheet.
In other words, the trading is likely to be ignored if there is no profit, so occasional and hobby- or enthusiast-based economic activity is generally ignored by tax authorities. Self-employed people are usually classified as a sole proprietor (or sole trader), independent contractor, or as a member of a partnership.
A sole proprietorship, also known as a sole trader, is owned by one person and operates for their benefit. The owner operates the business alone and may hire employees. A sole proprietor has unlimited liability for all obligations incurred by the business, whether from operating costs or judgments against the business.
Small businesses are types of corporations, partnerships, or sole proprietorships which have a small number of employees and/or less annual revenue than a regular-sized business or corporation. Businesses are defined as "small" in terms of being able to apply for government support and qualify for preferential tax policy.
A sole practitioner or solo practitioner is a professional, such as a lawyer or an architect, who practices independently. For instance a sole practitioner's law firm may include non-lawyer support personnel but does not include any other lawyers.
In medieval times, traders would do business through common law constructs, such as partnerships. Whenever people acted together with a view to profit, the law deemed that a partnership arose. Early guilds and livery companies were also often involved in the regulation of competition between traders.
His Majesty's Revenue and Customs (commonly HM Revenue and Customs, or HMRC) [4] [5] is a non-ministerial department of the UK government responsible for the collection of taxes, the payment of some forms of state support, the administration of other regulatory regimes including the national minimum wage and the issuance of national insurance numbers.