Organisation is key to keeping yourself up-to-date and on top so that come the start of the next tax year you aren’t scrambling around to find paperwork and receipts or like me in the past lost HMRC login details 5 days before the tax return cut off date.
Firstly, if you are blogging and don’t make any money that’s fine but if you start earning through your blog you need to register as self employed with HMRC within 3 months of earning, this can be earning via affiliate links, sponsored posts, selling on review products – anything which makes you money via your blog needs to be declared. It sounds daunting but really it is very simple – you can either call and register to do so online. After this you will receive your UTR (Unique Tax Reference) and login details for HMRC – you will have to activate your account using a code they send you within 28 days. Once done you won’t need to do this again.
Now is the perfect time to be organised with your record keeping, the beginning of the tax year means empty spreadsheets which I find is the easiest way to keep track of your incomings and outgoings, but you could obviously use the old fashioned way of writing it all down – find what works for you. She’s kinda Crafty has a lovely example of an income and expenses spreadsheet which she has made available as a free download for you if you would like to take a look. Work out what works for you, some like it all on one sheet while others prefer two separate ones (income and expenses) – have a play around to see what suits you.
Not sure what you can include as a business expense? Take a look at the Britmums guide here for more of an idea. I have recently discovered an app which helps me to keep track of my expenses such as mileage, train fares etc. while I am out and about – it’s called Expensify.
You’ll also want to set yourself up an invoice template, one where you can change the details accordingly for the work done but keep bank details, your details etc. the same – not sure what to include then Bonjour Blogger has a great list of what should be included.
Once you’ve established you would like to earn via your blog, or if you already do you may be interested in ways to increase revenue with little effort, Adsense is a popular way to gain a little income without doing too much at all, here Kerry explains how to place your ads for maximum effect.
Sponsored posts are another way to earn from your blog, although deciding on what you charge is often like asking how long is a piece of string, there is a lot to take into account such as your following, your DA etc. Michelle went about trying to find out just what could be charged by surveying bloggers to find out the answer to what do real bloggers charge, while Aby talks about negotiating fees for these posts.
If you are at all confused about your tax return, what you can and can’t claim or are wanting any further advise then there are sessions at many blogging conferences geared to just this topic – you can read one such session overview here.
My next post which goes up at the end of this month will focus on vlogging and podcasts so if you have any posts you would like to submit please email me clarenich@googlemail.com or tweet me your links.
About Clare Nicholas
Clare is a former NNEB trained Nanny and former Nanny/Babysitting Agency owner, she has now slowed down a little to spend as much time with her own family as possible, a WAHM with two whirlwinds Emmy & Harry. When they aren't climbing the walls and trashing the house they like to spend as much time outdoors as possible filling their time with adventure, dog walks, days out and always finding the biggest and muddiest of puddles - when exhaustion finally hits the kids Clare shares those adventures over on her blog.