6 Tax Tips for Mummy Bloggers
Tax is an inevitable part of blogging in the UK today. You don’t need to visit an accountant or an expensive tax lawyer to find out how things work. This guide is going to introduce you to the practicalities and realities of gaining an income through the art of blogging.
When Do You Need to Declare Your Income?
The law states that you need to declare all income. But you won’t pay any tax until you go past the personal allowance of £11,000. So, what do you do in this situation?
HMRC is not going to investigate or prosecute you for not declaring income that wouldn’t have been taxed anyway. You might want to register with HMRC to be on the safe side, but if you’re only earning enough to cover your monthly coffee bill it’s not worth the hassle.
But it’s entirely up to you.
Making Registering with HMRC Easy
So, you’ve reached the point where you need to register with HMRC?
You don’t need a degree or a successful backstory to work this out. Registering with HMRC takes place entirely online these days. Simply visit the HMRC website and you’ll get a unique tax number, which you’ll use when you file your return online. You can even pay around £150 to get a professional accountant to do the whole thing for you.
Do remember that you don’t have to pay your tax bill all at once. You can pay in instalments if you’re short on cash.
Remember Every Stream of Income
When you invest in a franchise you would declare income from every product and service. The same principle applies to blogging. It’s easy to forget some streams of income when they’re infrequent.
What you need to keep in mind is that sponsored posts and advertising will be your main income streams. But also, review items that you keep and any cash you make from selling review items can also come under things that you need to declare.
Trips for Research Can Be Claimed Back
Travel bloggers and business bloggers often must go places for their next post. If you’re lucky enough to be travelling, you can claim practically the whole thing back. This includes hotel costs, meals, and any tickets required. You can only claim back mileage if your car is specifically used for business, though.
Some women who found success have even turned their family days out into blog posts, which enables them to claim back some of the expenses. But you do need to be careful what you claim to avoid getting audited. You could only claim for you not your children.
The Home Office Issue
The most common expense is the home office. But HMRC have been clamping down on stay-at-home workers claiming back expenses for these areas.
The rule is simple. The home office needs to be a separate area of the home. This could be a study or simply a third bedroom. If you have one of these you can easily claim an allowance for that, even if you’re still sitting in the living room when you’re writing your next blog.
All that matters is that HMRC can see clear evidence that you have a dedicated home office in the case of an audit.
Leveraging Your Mummy Status
When a lot of mummy bloggers first start out they get the bright idea of claiming back childcare expenses. After all, you need to pay childcare costs so you can work, right? Not in the eyes of HMRC.
Don’t try to claim back anything to do with your own personal sustenance or the sustenance of your children. You can only make claims when it has something to do with your business directly. Indirect expenses don’t count.
A lot of mums have gotten audited by trying to do this.
Last Word – Should You Register a Company?
The company formations agent yourcompanyformations.co.uk believes that you should register a company when you begin earning a consistent income. This will make it easier for you to manage your tax affairs and to keep your personal financial affairs separate.
Will you register a company for your blogging business?
