The other most important question is, “if I do not tell HMRC about these hustles, will anyone tell them?”. On both questions, the short answer these days in most instances is YES.

Changes that were brought in by HMRC in January now requires online e-Commerce and online services platforms to automatically report the income and certain details of users whose sales exceed either £1,700 or 30 transactions in a calendar year directly to them.

Examples of product sites reporting to HMRC currently are eBay, Etsy, Amazon, Vinted, AirBnB, Booking.com. These also include the services platforms like Uber, Just Eat, Deliveroo etc. HMRC are still working with law makers to make sure they also get as much information on other platforms providing other services like Childcare, Trades, vehicle or property rentals, etc

Traditionally, HMRC guidance for small businesses or side hustles has been that a registration should be made with them for tax purposes when income from that small hustle goes beyond £1,000. As accountants, our general guidance also still stays the same. Do not wait for HMRC to hear from your trading platform for you to take action. The risk is that by that time HMRC would have started charging you penalties.

Way forward;

You can get in touch with our team for help with Registering your business or side hustle either as Self-Employed or as Limited Company. When the year comes to an end, we also help you take the load off by helping with filing tax returns and annual accounts required.