Tax and Banking
Article for new UK people. Other countries, other rules, but the Banking section is pretty universal! Taxes also in general, but not in detail.
Banking
Running a business on a personal account is a T&C breach. If they notice a personal account being used for business, they’ll close it.
Protect your bank account.
Anyway, if you are a typical new Creator, keep your current personal banking, just protect it with Bitsafe.
(You do want a business account in due course, but you can start like this esp if your money comes from platforms, not direct from clients/fans).
Taxes
Register with HMRC.
Start here.
The general rules are simple :-
Anything you use ONLY for business is an allowable expense. Your work phone, website, outfits (that you not only do not wear outside work, but everyone agrees you wouldn’t). Travel costs, hotels for work, all are deductible. Attending conferences, ditto. Buying cameras, lights, editing PCs, software etc can all be deducted. (Some items will be Capital Goods, more complex).
You can even offset some of your rent and bills if you have a specific room in your house/flat that is set aside for work. (Pro Tip – don’t do this without taking advice if you OWN your house, even if you have a mortgage. You could end up paying tax when you sell it)
For practical purposes while you get started, each week work out your GROSS INCOME (everything that came in), your EXPENSES for that week, deduct expenses from gross for your Net Income.
Set aside about 20% of the Net if you are doing this while you have other income/jobs that mean you pay tax already. Set aside about 30% if your existing income plus this, is over £3000 a month. (So, £2000 other job, £1000 this one, set aside £300). If this is your only income, and it’s modest, pocket the first £200 each week and set aside 20% of the rest.
This will do for the start, but do see an accountant. Industry ones are switched on to maximising your expenses and minimising your taxes.
Accountants in our industry (UK unless stated otherwise)