Creative Futures week 6th. 5 .2013 ( Pt 3 of 4 )

Self-employed: the basics

Andy Gardner

Andy is Self employed but Works for tax office in revenue HMRC, his role is to help new businesses get it right the 1st time. In all fairness to  Andy he told us that we could ring him anytime for advice and left his number with us.If he wasn't available we could ask for Business education support team.

We started off with the basics of understanding when the tax year starts and ends. This year if you are self-employed your forms would have to be dated "Tax yrs- 6 April 2013 to 5 April 2014"  - complete the forms for this year at 2015. ALWAYS working a year behind"

You are categorised as being self-If employed, if you are actively marketing your business. This is also identified as having something to sell and either having a customer for your goods or services. If this is the case you should register online or alternatively you can do it by phone. Once this is in place you are considered registered, as for  National Insurance. You now have to make a contribution so make sure you KEEP A NOTE OF YOUR NUMBER.

Identifying Class and Pay

Class 2

self-employed

Class 3

voluntary

Initially you don't pay any tax until after you have earned £148 per week (I need to check this).  Self employed must be at class 2 and the flat rate of 2.65 a week and goes up in the new tax year. Payable in arrears and payments fluctuate and self employment pay ON A SUNDAY!

You get 5 benefits, however in the booklet it states you cannot get job seekers allowance.

Class4

is payments on profits!!! In 1 year if it goes above £7605 you will pay tax on the extra. You need private pensions if no National Insurance is being paid but you will be doing this if you are paying class 2 stamp.

Records.

importantly : You must keep records as this is proof and this is entirely up to you as to how you do it, you may have your own method or adopt somebody else's.

below are some simple examples:

1.  Set up your own systems to keep your records- you can keep a diary- money in and money out. Keep capital expenses separate eg camera etc. is a cost as it's a tool for your job.

2. Maintain those records. Keep up to date,You could pay an accountant to do this but you will need to pay them. This can obviously have its pros and cons.

3. Keep records for 6 years This is because you may need an audit! where the tax office check your records and you are legally obliged to keep records and you cannot stop them looking at them

Tax office needs to know:

1. Turn over = money in

2. LESS allowable expenses

3. Less capital expenses. Day to day this leads to taxable profit.

Take a wage out from the profits (need to check this) these are personal expenses!!! Only need to keep business expense receipts. Non allowable expenses =  food (you can get allowance for meals if u r away on a job) but only clothing for business eg uniform ( logo of ur business on clothing). 
Training is not an allowable expense but enhancement of knowledge training is. Working from home is allowable expense but you need to research how you put this into your expense claims. You can put any receipt lost in your records but not too often as the tax office will suspect you are fiddling your expenses and check even more into your accounts.
Mileage for car- deduct as allowable 45p per mile for 1st 10000 miles 

Timeline Example= 1 May 2013 to 5/4/14 and then get letter at -April 2014 paper returns your allowed 7 months to fill it in- you can get penalty if not on time. Online = 3? months to fill out but better done ASAP. Profit is taxed but you get a tax free allowance £ 8105 allowance at the mo.( this means everyone is allowed to earn this amount before the tax office takes tax off you)  and if you get more than that you pay 20% on the rest Going up to 9000? Next year Budget for your tax bill. Put some money away in an account or set up a budget payment account with the revenue office. Online you can get a calculation as to how much it will be!  This works with a partnership as well. "Limited Co." is not own business  - you are an employee!  

Webinars can be accessed on the web to get info etc Stock = cost of sales

interest  9/10   content  10/10

Somehow considering the topic I found it very interesting! I wasn't bombarded with jargon and complicated ways of understanding. So much content was talked about and broken down and it was really good to have a handout that we could take away from this lecture and be able to over periods of time, be able to read, look over it and understand to some further degree.

delivery  10/10

For this type of lecture that we were sat listening to, initially the words  tax, customs and revenue may make some people want to fall asleep already! To me Andy came across as kind of old school - he captivated me right from the beginning. His life story was incorporated into telling us all about HMRC and he was serious yet witty and managed to get the message across. When Andy talked I couldn't help but visualise especially when he referred to his father as "my old man".

The only bad point to this lecture was that for me his voice was too loud. I understand why he was loud as he needed to project his voice, but noisy environments, even talking, is difficult for me to handle occasionally. If I hadn't have been so captivated by him I would have found this lecture too much.

Volunteering and Careers within Charities

 by Catherine Stephens 

Welsh Council for Voluntary Action

Catherine manages the Voluntary Internship program where she works with Third Sector organisations across Wales. Previously she worked for the National Museum of Wales in Cardiff.

so what are some other benefits?

develops your confidence

increases your own skills and confidence

She advised:

Always make sure that you  include what you do, if you have an internship, on your CV.

Firstly to be accepted you need to complete their application forms and give them your CV they then pass it on to possible placements.

Advice for when you are on your placement:

Asking questions is a good way to learn try to network

Share any new ideas that might have the may be beneficial

It is important to find a mentor who you can go to. The mentor can check on you to make sure that you understand what is needed. 

Where possible, try to agree a work plan or write your own brief - this is so that you know what is expected of you, maybe even what you are going to do.

Most importantly don't forget to ask for a reference before you leave the placement or organisation.

There are approximately 33,000 organisations in Wales which house lots of opportunities for you, especially if you need more experiences on your CV. They will help your work possibilities and by helping charities this is a good way of building networks for yourself. Most placements are short term structured placements, part time so you could mostly only work 1-2 days a week for 3 months. Sometimes it is possible to do longer within organisations. They are also looking for  commitment and flexibility in individuals. 

There is a wide range of placements and where possible they could tailor your volunteering into helping utilise your own skills.Catherine has worked for 100+ charities in the last 18 months. Internship allows individuals to test out many different careers and this is because there is no long term commitment. If for any reason you don't like it there is an option that you can can leave. An example = Internship creating websites - if you decide to go freelance with your photography it can be difficult to establish your name and volunteering helps you to do that.

Links below

www.volunteering-wales

www.wcva.org.uk 

www.facebook.com/explorementro‎

interest   10/10  content  10/10

This was a really interesting  talk that had real promise as to what experiences and opportunities can  be gained by volunteering. It can help practical and personal skills, self-confidence etc. I have myself gained with being in a volunteering environment. Although the talk didn't last that long I felt this content was vast.

 delivery 6/10

I found the delivery very flat  as the speaker to me seemed to have no passion in selling the idea to us. This I know seems a little bit harsh and I can empathise how daunting it can be talking in front of a group of people as I have had some experiences of this myself. the speaker didn't seem to connect with the audience. This was an excellent idea - so much opportunity to be gained on both sides.

"Mirror mirror on the wall"

finding evidence of the CVS and applications

Andrea Hilditch

Andrea has worked with students at Glyndwr for approximately 7 years, within a role she enjoys, helping people to see what they can actually offer employers.The title gives a subtle hint into self reflection into past history of mistakes, barriers, challenges etc and the present situation and how to get to the future. Also it goes into how we portray ourselves as well as who we are behind the mask.

One of Andrea's challenges was to convince us that we had more to offer the employer than we actually thought we had.

The phrase of "Mirror mirror" went into more depth. When we create our CV we also create a clear image of ourselves and we ask an employer to judge how appealing we are. "Who's the fairest or who's the best person for the job"? This could reflect on your personal energy and  interests.

How do you get your CV right?

Some are said to have too much information while others are said to have too little, it's about finding the in-between balance.

Think about who you have also collaborated with on projects in and out of University. Employers also like evidence that backs up your statements.

The activities of self reflection was then started, both individual and in group work.

Positive and pro-active words were something else that was touched upon - using the words "I just" or "I only" for example or the words "Had the opportunity to" or "Had the chance to" as they may come across as meaning that you just "tried" the tasks. Try not to use words or phrases that can be damaging.

Link below

http://www.studentsguild.glyndwr.ac.uk/StudentServices/CareersJobshop/

Photographic career development

Adam Lee

Adam is a semi-professional photographer who is based in Liverpool, but his work takes him  all over the place. He does various types of work such as commercial, participatory photography, and different kinds of collaborative work and also his own personal work. Adam also describes himself as an "emerging artist".

One of his collaborations was with a community arts project that was run by Mark Baker.       He was commissioned to document the project, art work and the people involved. Some

of his commercial work has been as a wedding photographer. The documentary approach can  also be used at weddings as it captures those reactions and moments. A lot of Adam's work is also working with people who have disabilities - as he is a support worker at the John Moore's University and he's done this for the last 10 years. He also does a lot of work for many different  organisations for the disabled, such as DADA (disabled and deaf arts) and The Brothers of Charity.

Adam stresses that although he has done voluntary work sometimes that has led onto paid work. Throughout the talk, various images that he had taken were shown to us.

content   7/10  interest   8/10

I did actually find it interesting the bits that I had grasped, particularly about the windows of opportunity that can arise from chance meetings and voluntary work.

delivery   5/10

After about 15 min I had started to switch off due to the fact that he was talking too fast for me to take everything in, and it had started to become a "drone" and my attention span was shut down.

I understand that within the time period he had a lot to tell and show us, but sometimes it  just felt to me that some things will be repeated due to the speed of delivery.