When a client will not pay and the polite emails have stopped working, a small claims unpaid invoice case is often the next realistic step. It is a formal court process, but ordinary business owners can use it without a solicitor. Thousands of sole traders and small limited companies do so every year to recover money that is rightfully theirs.
This guide explains how t...
Most founders assume VAT only becomes relevant once they register. That assumption is expensive. You can reclaim VAT start-up costs that date back years before your registration date, and HMRC’s rules on pre-registration VAT are more generous than most people expect: four years for goods, six months for services. But they are also strict about evidence. Claim without the righ...
Helen Thornley is a Technical Officer with the Association of Taxation Technicians, with a focus on personal taxes.
Sole trader homeworking expenses are the part of the tax return where our readers either leave money on the table or claim more than they can defend. Both mistakes a...
What happens to business debts when closing a UK business depends almost entirely on how that business is structured. Close a limited company the wrong way and creditors can come back for years. Close it properly, through the right insolvency route, and the debts genuinely stop at the company’s door. As a sole trader there is no door at all: the debts were always yours.
<...Equipment hire has traditionally been pictured as a world of plant yards, diggers and men in hi-vis jackets. That picture is out of date. Across the UK, women are launching and running hire businesses in sectors ranging from events and photography to baby equipment, mobility aids, catering kit and tools for tradespeople. Many started as sole traders working from a garage or s...