Starting an electronics business

[Faringdon]

Hi,
Has anyone left work to try and start up an electronics business?
....But you never got payed anything, and never made any money, and never claimed any benefits.....and then Inland revenue contact you and demand that you pay £1112.94 Tax for the 2021-2022 year?

I left work on 28th feb 2022, have not earned any money since then, have not owned a business since then, have not claimed any benefits since then, have always only ever worked in one job at a time bfore 28/02/2022, and was always on PAYE...ie my tax was always worked out and payed for me by whichever company i worked at.

Now i have a Tax demand from Inland Revenue for £1112.94
They say i can go on HMRC twitter for advice , but i cant sign into it because i dont know my username.
They say i can phone them, but they dont pick up.
They say i can fill in what i am doing on my "Personal Tax Account"...but there is nowhere on there for you to fill any such thing in.

Has anyone ever been in this situation, and knows how to sort it?

[Bud]

What do you mean 2021-2022? Is that perhaps for you last employer's fiscal year that starts/ends other that Jan 1st?

[themadhippy]

Is that perhaps for you last employer's fiscal year that starts/ends other that Jan 1st?

normal uk tax year is 6 april-5 april .so it looks like the tax man has questimated your earnings from 28/02/22 - 5 april and recons thats  wot you owe.thinks  you need to sign up for self assessment https://www.gov.uk/register-for-self-assessment  and get a return filled in

[johnboxall]

Has anyone ever been in this situation, and knows how to sort it?

Engage an accountant.

[pcprogrammer]

Has anyone ever been in this situation, and knows how to sort it?

Engage an accountant.

Which is not free of charge.

Here in France we can just go to the nearest tax office and talk to someone. Need some patience to await your turn, but they are there to help with tax problems.

Don't know about how it is in the UK, but can imagine a similar setup. Just search online for the nearest tax office and see if they are open to the public. Might even be that you can make an appointment online.

Make sure you have some proof that you did not earn taxable income in the period they are taxing you for.

[Halcyon]

They say i can go on HMRC twitter for advice , but i cant sign into it because i dont know my username.

I would suggest that if this kind of problem has you stumped, I would advise that you leave things like taxation and accounting to the professionals, rather than trying to "sort it" yourself. Running any business has risks and many new businesses fail or don't make money for some time. Starting and owning a business is not something one should go into light-heatedly. There is lots of homework you need to do and if you don't know, engage the services of someone who does know.

Typically, things like accountants are tax deductible business expenses, so that might be a consideration for you.

[arjen]

First, I'd recommend contacting HMRC directly and persistently, as they can sometimes take a while to respond. You might want to try calling during off-peak hours or sending them a detailed letter explaining your situation. Also, it could be helpful to reach out to a tax advisor or accountant who can assist you in clarifying and resolving the issue with the Inland Revenue.

[Infraviolet]

Ths is the sort of thing which could probably only ever be solved, in the long term, if everyone reciving such HMRC demands were to decide to boycott them. The way tax is spent in this country is disgraceful, the more they collect the less public services (of kinds which actually work) the state actually provides, they just find ways to burn money on ever more lumbering bureacracies, the NHS is a great example of how dysfunctional this becomes. That is on top of the fortunes of money wasted on over-reacting to the covid pandemic, which could have been handled cheaply in a civil-liberties-repecting way by copying Sweden (who were infact themselves copying the UK's pre-2020 plan). And the fortunes of money wasted by making taxation more intrusive, so they monitor more and more things, yet the salaries of all the extra bureacrats positioned to interfere with small businesses (while letting multinationals get away with anything) probably outweigh the extra tax collected anyway. One person alone would struggle to achieve anything, but a boycott by every potential payer of a tax, that isn't already taken via PAYE, would send a good message. Afterall, it was a tax boycoot that started the process that lead to the signing of magna carta.

P.S. political rant over... I noted this is a Faringdon thread, I do find the title a bit irrelevant. I opened the thread thinking it was going to be a discussion of electronics business, in practice it is a discussion of tax problems which was enough to inspire my short rant. Why didn't he title the thread "HMRC tax problems" or equivalent, with "HMRC" or "tax" in the title, in which case I'd probably never have visited the thread at all. His problems may have relation to business problems, but definitely nothing electronics specific. Oddly enough he forgot to mention switched mode power supplies this time, surprising.

[tggzzz]

Ths is the sort of thing which could probably only ever be solved, in the long term, if everyone reciving such HMRC demands were to decide to boycott them. The way tax is spent in this country is disgraceful, the more they collect the less public services (of kinds which actually work) the state actually provides, they just find ways to burn money on ever more lumbering bureacracies, the NHS is a great example of how dysfunctional this becomes. That is on top of the fortunes of money wasted on over-reacting to the covid pandemic, which could have been handled cheaply in a civil-liberties-repecting way by copying Sweden (who were infact themselves copying the UK's pre-2020 plan). And the fortunes of money wasted by making taxation more intrusive, so they monitor more and more things, yet the salaries of all the extra bureacrats positioned to interfere with small businesses (while letting multinationals get away with anything) probably outweigh the extra tax collected anyway. One person alone would struggle to achieve anything, but a boycott by every potential payer of a tax, that isn't already taken via PAYE, would send a good message. Afterall, it was a tax boycoot that started the process that lead to the signing of magna carta.

P.S. political rant over... I noted this is a Faringdon thread, I do find the title a bit irrelevant. I opened the thread thinking it was going to be a discussion of electronics business, in practice it is a discussion of tax problems which was enough to inspire my short rant. Why didn't he title the thread "HMRC tax problems" or equivalent, with "HMRC" or "tax" in the title, in which case I'd probably never have visited the thread at all. His problems may have relation to business problems, but definitely nothing electronics specific. Oddly enough he forgot to mention switched mode power supplies this time, surprising.

Shut up.

This is a Faringdon/treez thread, so everybody should shut up.

Oh.... Oops! 

[pcprogrammer]

Shut up.

This is a Faringdon/treez thread, so everybody should shut up.

Oh.... Oops! 

And it is almost 2 years old.

Not sure if resurrecting it is what got member arjen kicked of the force, because that is what the "exclamation mark followed by shut eyed face emoticon" means does it not. 

[Andy Chee]

Not sure if resurrecting it is what got member arjen kicked of the force, because that is what the "exclamation mark followed by shut eyed face emoticon" means does it not. 

Take a look at arjen's posting history in 2024.  They resemble spam.

[pcprogrammer]

Not sure if resurrecting it is what got member arjen kicked of the force, because that is what the "exclamation mark followed by shut eyed face emoticon" means does it not. 

Take a look at arjen's posting history in 2024.  They resemble spam.

I only looked at the latest three or four and they looked more or less normal but non saying. Now I looked further down and see that there are kind of advertising links in his posts. 

[jeka1981]

I suggest reaching out to HMRC directly and persistently, as their response times can be slow. Consider calling during off-peak hours or sending a detailed letter outlining your situation. Additionally, consulting a tax advisor or accountant could be beneficial in helping you resolve the issue with the Inland Revenue.

[RJSV]

Faringdon, HI:
   Here in sunny California, I've just been reading an article, just for a tiny, 110 square foot food take out place.   If the property has been empty for more than 2 years, then there are issues with the state Water Board.   Likely a complex issue with potential ground water contaminants!
   There were several other state agencies that are potentially involved, with any little start-up....(and I thought folks were kidding, about the immediate 'regulatory' burden.   ...burden(s).

But 'Ground Water'   One little shop was a seamstress, doing fancy lettering on jackets, etc.