Oh I am fretting loads here guys .

Remember when ebay started telling everyone back early this year that if you made something to sell at a profit ,there was alot of reborners who got this email , then you had to register as a business ?

Well I did and have done all the paperwork and am all legal and above board , when I registered I asked about keeping records and they said that if I kept my paypal records as proof of what was incoming and outgoing plus any receipts for stuff I brought outside of ebay then I could claim them as outgoings too , so every month I have been very good printing off a detailed monthly statement and marking the incomings and outgoings and keeping any receipts safe.

I got a phone call from the tax ofice today just making sure I knew I had to file a tax return soon which I did and she recommended online to do it gave me a helpline number blah blah and then she asked about my record keeping .

I explained what i've been doing and according to her this isn't good enough !!!!!

Well I am really worried now as she says that for every purchase and sale I should have details of the person I brought from or sold to , preferably written in a log book , which I havn't done BUT I have just looked at paypal and I can go back to January's records which is when I registered as self employed and will have to start printing off and writing down everything which will be a hell of a job but she also said ... and I need to prove that I havn't had payment any other way like by cheque ?? well how can I prove I havn't ??

I did have one months back that I did keep details of thankfully and I had one cash payment I can get the details of too but how do you prove you havn't for gods sake ??

I can see this taking me ages to sort out am just worried i'll get in trouble with the tax man now !

I have spoken to a good friend also a reborner who has been keeping records just like me and she is worried too !

Can anyone in the same boat please shed some light on this for me .

I know i'll be WAYYYYYYYYYY under the level of earnings before tax as it was over 4K but how do you prove it ????

HELP !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It makes me wonder why I bother at all when I can't even sell my dolls

xx

Catherine you have my sympathy...hope someone can help....on a lighter note it seems ebay are thinking of bringing in mutual feedback withdrawal soon.

Good luck

Linda
xx

Can you get to a local tax office? They're not as scary as I expected them to be and will help small businesses if they can. Sometimes speaking to another person might clarify the situation for you - they all seem to work in different ways!

I think that you're best going and talking to them if you can, take all your bits with you then they can see what's what. Good luck. Do you actually make enough to register as a business, I thought you had to earn a good few thousand but I might be thinking of VAT.

Paypal have been saying I need to register as a business and we only joined ebay/paypal in Jan of this year...and I'm not a reborn artist and haven't even sold an awful lot.....after a zillion emails to paypal they have said I do NOT need to be a business!

Hope you get sorted...I hate things hanging over me like this...I'm sure you do too

Linda
xx

Catherine,
I have messaged you.
Sally

best way is to employ an accountant to sort it for you hun

I really can't afford an accountant , wish I was making the sort of money to be able to !

I really didn't wnat to register as a small business but had no choice if I wanted to sell my reborns on ebay , just ridiculous !

I know I won't have earned anything like the amount you have to earn before you start paying tax , if half of it but am just fretting with it being the first one I have to do .

Thanks to those of you that pm'd me to tell me your experiences and your advice is much appreciated thanks

xx

It would really be worth going to make an appointment with an accountant. They will charge you on an hourly basis for the initial consultation, and pro rata if you are with them for less of course. At least you would get the right information, and know exactly what you should be doing and when. If you really can't do that, then why don't you try the Citizens Advice Bureau, who provide free advice, although I'm not sure if they advise on Tax Affairs for Small Businesses, it's worth a try...

Good luck with whatever you do, and try not to worry too much......I am sure you aren't alone in this dilemma....

Love Sue x