Freelancers networking on 28th June 2023 – WP development, paying tax on account and more
Posted by Paul Silver
We had our freelancers networking meet on 28th June in the beer garden of the Battle of Trafalgar, Brighton. 17 people came along.
This is a little of what we talked about:
- Very modern WordPress development
- Twitter API use in mid-2023
- Where to try vertical mouse/mice in Brighton?
- Ergonomic equipment and reasons to use it
- FuseBox Show and Tell
- Persistent colds
- Dara 0 Briain comedy gigs
- Purism Linux computer
- Paying tax on account
- Whether to go Mac/Windows/Linux on next computer
- PHP upgrades
- Comedy gig prices
- Upcoming climate damage and where to buy property
- Evangelical weddings and Christian Rock
Highlights
Paying tax on account
When you are self employed, you have to fill out a self assessment tax return once a year and HMRC then tell you how much tax you owe them. If you’re a director of a Limited company, you still do this, it’s just simpler than if you’re trading as a sole trader.
What is often not mentioned is when you do your self assessment, HMRC will often request you to pay money “on account” for your next year of tax.
For example, I was self employed for the 2020-2021 tax year. This means I filled out a self assessment return by 31st January 2022. In that return, HMRC calculated how much tax I owed for the 2020-2021 tax year. They also predicted how much tax I would owe for the 2021-2022 tax year (the future as far as my return is concerned) and expected me to pay half of that amount straight away, then the other half in six months. The amount I have paid is then taken off my tax calculation for the 2021-2022 tax year when I do my next self assessment.
If you’re being a very responsible freelancer and saving your tax to a savings account as money comes in, this is not a problem as you have the money put aside. However, if you have not been doing this, the extra bill can come as a bit of a shock.
Don’t get shocked, save money as you go!
If you know you won’t owe as much tax as HMRC are predicting, you can request to pay less. Be warned, if you then have a better year than you thought, you will owe the money plus interest. I know this because I had poor money management for a while when I was first starting out and got caught out by requesting to pay less then owing more than their prediction.
Don’t be like I was, save money as you go! I’d have been able to pay no problem if I had done this as I would have had the money ready and waiting for them.
Purism Linux computers
I’m assured Purism makes the best computers for using Linux at the moment. One of our members was recommending one to Laura, who is currently considering her next upgrade and is unsure whether to stay on a Mac or move to another platform. They certainly look like decent computers from the pictures and specs, and it’s always good to hear from someone who has actually used one before buying.