Let's talk about self-employment - [PDF] - Niace

Regulations and the legal side of being self-employed
You can also be self-employed by:
• Operating a franchise. This allows you to run a branch of a
business that has been set up by someone else.
• Participating in a co-operative. This is where the people
working in a business own and control it together.
The Prince’s Trust website www.princes-trust.org.uk/ - has a
very good guide called Forming your business, which explains
trading structures, what you need to do for each and their
pros and cons. (The local Prince’s Trust contact can print this
and pop a copy in the post if you are not able to download
from an Internet site. Please see our Further resources section
for more details.)
Registering that you’ve started work
Anyone can work for himself or herself but you’ll be doing it
illegally unless you register with HM Revenue & Customs,
known to most of us as the taxman. You have to do this
within three months of starting work but it is simple and once
you’ve done it you’ll be sent a guide setting out what else you
need to do to stay on the right side of the law, for example
pay tax and National Insurance. You’ll find out more about
these in our section on Handling money.
To register as self-employed, you need to fill in the form found
at the back of the leaflet SE1 – Thinking of Working for
yourself. It is available to download from the HM Revenue &
Customs website – www.hmrc.gov.uk/individuals/fgcatselfemployment.shtml
– or you can call the helpline for
newly self-employed people on 08459 15 45 15.
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