How old do you have to be to run a business?

[josh.yearby]

Hi everyone.

My name is josh from the UK and i have recently set up my selling site on my parents ebay account as they no longer use it. I am 15 years old with a drive for my business as it creates £300 profit per month. This is now where i want to expand onto my own site to beat the seller fees as they are decreasing my profit each month. I know i am only 15 and most people say "You're only messing around" and other things like "it doesn't need to be serious business". But that is not the case!

I want to know how old do i need to be have my company registered with HMRC as a sole trader. I think it may be 16? If so i wanted my mother to run it for 5 months as then i am 16 but she thinks it may affect her and my fathers IVA as they sadly run their own business as they entered into a IVA 2 years ago :-( The fact they are in a IVA make me really want a better future for my self as times are really, really tough for my whole family.

Now i need someone to be a sole trader for maximum 5 months unless i am old enough to run it my self.

I hope someone can help me! Please ask for more details!

Josh

 

[Scalloway]

I do not think there is any minimum age to register as self employed - you are liable for tax from the moment you are born if you have sufficient income. There will be a problem with eBay, as you should not use someone else's account and must be 18 to have your own.

 

[tdheywood]

Ah brilliant! So you think I can easily register as a sole trader?

Thankyou! and that's why I want to get away from eBay etx.

 

[Paul_Rosser]

Good for you Josh, nice to see someone young trying to get into business.

One issue you may have is that once you setup your own site to sell goods as you are under 18 I don't think you can create a legally binding contract between you and buyers.

However sure some clever legal person will be able to clarify.

Ignore that found this post - http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=90585

"The legal age for entering into a contract in the UK is 7. But between the age of 7 and 17 inclusive you need your parent's consent for the contract to be binding."

 

[josh.yearby]

"The legal age for entering into a contract in the UK is 7. But between the age of 7 and 17 inclusive you need your parent's consent for the contract to be binding."

So do you think I am old enough to register with the HMRC as a sole trader?

Thankyou once again. Much appreciated!

Josh

 

[Paul_Rosser]

So do you think I am old enough to register with the HMRC as a sole trader?

Thankyou once again. Much appreciated!

Josh

Yes you can.

Good luck!!

 

[josh.yearby]

That's just what I needed! Thankyou so very much! Would you reccomend I use an accountant to do it?
Tom

 

[Paul_Rosser]

You could do, or do it yourself and save some cash.

Info on how to can be found here - https://www.gov.uk/register-for-self-assessment

I don't think it's that complicated, but haven't don't it myself.

I'm going to PM one of the friendly accountants on here to have a look at this post as they would be better placed to advise you than me.

One thing to watch is though that as a sole trader any debts of the company become yours, so once you are 18 then you may want to become a limited company to protect yourself.

 

[josh.yearby]

Yes I understand that because this was the biggest problem my parents never did go limited- sadly. Thankyou for all your help!

 

[elaine@cheapaccounting]

Brilliant well done you - the son of one of our accountant's has his own business and is doing blooming well. I love the young entrepreneurial spirit - I wished I still had as much energy

You can be a director of a limited company when you are 16.

Is there any chance that your parents will 'help' set you up as a limited company for now until you reach the "legal age"?

The best of luck with it.

Would one of our free guides to help you keep your sole trader accounts help:

http://www.cheapaccounting.co.uk/free-guide-to-keeping-your-accounts.php

 

[Paul_Rosser]

Thank you Elaine, great advice as always.

 

[josh.yearby]

Hi! Thankyou everyone for your advice! So i could contact the cheaper accountant i would be able to be a sole trader because I'm only 15 :-(

Once again great advice!

 

[elaine@cheapaccounting]

Hi

We got your message and will be in touch soon.

By the way we are cheapaccounting.co.uk

 

[Connor Sharpe]

i am 13 and go under sole trader because of the type of industry i am the right age and have set up with hmrc told them my age and they said it was fine

 

[Scalloway]

HMRC will be quite happy to register you as self employed if you are likely to earn enough to pay tax. You may have problems as you are too young to enter into contracts.

 

[simon field]

That's interesting...

So, if Connor is doing business with people, contract or not, and something goes wrong...

there is no legal recourse either way because there's no contract - implied or otherwise?