talkmagic.co.uk

Money wise, ignore everything Gary Dickson posts. He is currently trying to avoid paying off his debts by simply handing over a piece of toilet paper with his name on and saying "there you go Mr Bank and Credit Card manager, you are now paid in full. A terminally delusional case, sad to say.

Arkesus wrote:Money wise, ignore everything Gary Dickson posts. He is currently trying to avoid paying off his debts by simply handing over a piece of toilet paper with his name on and saying "there you go Mr Bank and Credit Card manager, you are now paid in full. A terminally delusional case, sad to say.

Surely that should be "has successfully and lawfully discharged a debt"? Look, all I'm doing is presenting my opinion. Last I checked, there was nothing wrong in that. You don't have to agree with my opinion. You do, however, have to abide by the rules of the forum. I would like to remind you of one of them:

12. As a member, you must refrain from any form of belittling, defamatory, hostile or punishing remarks towards fellow magicians and/or other members, especially newcomers. Authority at TM is in the hands of the moderators, not the forum members. If you believe you have been treated unfairly, or have reason to believe that comments aimed at you by a forum member are unjust or accusatory, please contact a moderator via private message.

So please, keep your insults to yourself. Thank you.

EDIT: Speaking of toilet paper...did you know that the Court Funds Office does not accept Bank of England bank notes because they are fraudulent? Oh, that makes me laugh!

OK let's make this very clear, the original request was for advice rather than personal opinion so can we keep to the facts and keep it sweet please folks?

TheStoner wrote:As a newly self-employed magician I'd be interested to know which expenses are allowable for tax purposes. I'm seeing an accountant shortly but it would be good to have a general idea first.

Does it cover all props, down to individual packs of cards? What about books/DVDs related to magic? Smart clothing for posh functions? Petrol and reasonable travel costs? Website design, advertising, business cards? How about training sessions with other magicians, cost of attending conventions like Blackpool, travel to dealer days and so on?

If you prefer to PM me about this rather than reply here then feel free. Any help/advice/info much appreciated - cheers!

You are obviously doing the right thing consulting an accountant, or phoning HMRC. Seriously, the HMRC are not to be messed around with, despite the opinion of a previous poster. The fact is, taxes are established by acts of parliament, there is nothing voluntary about them, and in the UK they are enforceable under criminal law. You can, of course, choose not to pay UK tax - but the only realistic methods are to leave Britain and become resident in another country, or not to earn taxable money.

Heck, the laws so broad that even encouraging you not to pay tax where you are liable is, in fact, a crime under the Serious Crime Act 2007 s44,45, and 46.

Don't forget that if you work more than 20 hours a week you are often entitled to tax credits while starting up the business which can considerably increase your income during the intial phases.

tomterm8 wrote:Don't forget that if you work more than 20 hours a week you are often entitled to tax credits while starting up the business which can considerably increase your income during the intial phases.

There's a self-employed income threshold (£5000-odd this year) below which you can declare yourself exempt from National Insurance Class 2 payments. It's usually worth applying for if you fall into that category, which you might for the first year or two of a new business.

On the down side, you're not credited with the NI payments, which might affect your pension entitlement in decades to come. Assuming they still have pensions by then.

The official name for this is "small earnings exception". It's remarkably hard to find on the HMRC website without knowing this exact phrase.

sorry, have to say something here, freedom of speech and all that...

there's a moral obligation to pay your taxes, you pay them not to just kill innocent people, but also to educate the young, look after the eldery, and all things inbetween...if you're against that, then it could mean you are morally bankrupt...

as for going solo so to speak - just ring up, get a name of the person who answers, and you'll get help...they only want you to pay the right amount of tax, they don't care how much it is...

With the exception of the 'opinions,' there is some good advice here.