Sole trader or Limited Company

Alcaraz

I am working full time as an administrator and I am currently considering to run a big event ( dance related- nothing to do with my full time job ). I am going to invest around £15,000 to book a venue, pay artists, accommodation, flights, sound system, publicity, insurance, etc. I am planning to sell tickets through a website so I will be getting money from different people from inside and outside of the Uk. I have no clue about the profits I will get if I do.

My question is, what is the best and more convenient way to proceed legally? Sole trader, Ltd, nothing...... Everyone is giving me different advices and I am quite confused. I don't want to end up having legal problems or loosing money because of the taxes.

emeldc

Talk to your accountant. If he's any good I'd say he'll talk you out of it.

BarryD2

No clue about the profits?? Think you need to cost the proposal as best you can, work out the various inputs and risks, how many tickets you need to sell to break even etc. The issue of business structure should be lower down your list at the moment unless you plan to leave creditors in the lurch. If you think it's going to cost €15K and can afford to lose that in worst case (entirely possible) then fine.

searunner

Alcaraz wrote: »

I am working full time as an administrator and I am currently considering to run a big event ( dance related- nothing to do with my full time job ). I am going to invest around £15,000 to book a venue, pay artists, accommodation, flights, sound system, publicity, insurance, etc. I am planning to sell tickets through a website so I will be getting money from different people from inside and outside of the Uk. I have no clue about the profits I will get if I do.

My question is, what is the best and more convenient way to proceed legally? Sole trader, Ltd, nothing...... Everyone is giving me different advices and I am quite confused. I don't want to end up having legal problems or loosing money because of the taxes.

In my opinion,

Sole trader, less paperwork, as you are taxed on your salary any losses you make can be offset against you Employment income. However, if the event is a success. and you make eg €15k profit. you will be taxed on both the salary and sole trader income in your 2021 income tax return.

Company. more paperwork. CRO, RBO. if You are proprietary director who owns more than 15% of the share capital of a company and you will need to file an income tax return.

if its a one off event perhaps a sole trader is better than a company. However, you need to consider more things before deciding on the method of trading.

Another option is a partnership, this is similar to a sole trader but requires two or more participants to form a partnership. You will be taxed on the percentage holding of of each partner. EG 50% of partnership equals 50% of profit / loss

This is an over view but get proper advice before committing to any of the above.

v638sg7k1a92bx

This topic is covered ad nausea on here and all over the internet. A cursory google search will answer everything you need to know, outside of that if you have specific tax questions then you should pay for a consultant.

€15k? Any sizeable event could cost that in insurance alone (if not more).

But, for argument sake, if it's a once off event and the max you can lose (taking insurance into account) then Sole Trader would seem plausible.