My Thoughts On Completing My First Tax Return Since Becoming Self Employed

Oh boy, this is a post I've been meaning to write for a while but well, I'm not going to lie I've been putting off completing my self assessment form all year. I absolutely hate filling in any type of form with a passion. I always feel like I'm going to mess it up. Also knowing you've got to fill in a form for HMRC aka "the tax man" is actually scary, will I end up doing it wrong and end up with a fine? Every time I took a glance at the self assessment form and what it looks like I'd shut down and put it off for even longer and I know I'm probably not alone in that either. But then a few weeks ago I just sat down one afternoon and did it. I don't know where the motivation and confidence came from but I did it and guess what? Altogether it only took about an hour. So I'm going to talk about my overall thoughts and also some extra information if you've just become self employed or being thinking of becoming self employed via your blog soon.


-Before I carry on with this post please bare in mind that I am not a qualified accountant or anything like that but I have spoken to other people who have been self employed for longer than me and have a better understanding with how it all works and have helped me along the way-

I've been a full time blogger since May 2017, I literally fell into blogging after quitting my last job because I was fed up and just had enough to put it bluntly. It was just a hobby whilst I looked for another job at first but then I started to get sponsored posts and paid instagram opportunities with Takumi and it just grew from there. 

In my first year I earned over £1000 but under the personal allowance amount before you have to pay tax which is £11,850. I did however make a lot more money in my first year blogging than I did in my super stressful retail job, which was the last placed I worked and basically caused my depression and anxiety to grow immensely. Whilst blogging full time has it cons such as being messed around by brands who disappear when it's time to pay up, spending a lot of time at home alone whilst everyone else is doing their "normal" jobs and also not knowing how much you're earning from one month to the next. However for me personally blogging full time has more pros for me than cons especially with me now having chronic pain and not knowing how I feel from one day to the next. It just works well for me. 

If you still haven't completed your self assessment form for 2017/18 and have earned £6,025 or over in the 2017/18 tax year then you will have to pay Class 2 NICs which is £2.95 per week or £153.40 a year or Class 4 NICs if you earn over £8,424 within the tax year. Also bear in mind that if blogging is your side job and you also have another job then you will have to pay tax no matter how much you earn but you can be taxed on the job which you earn the least on which will most likely be your blog.

I now think the most stressful part isn't the self assessment like I thought it would be, it's actually making sure you have all your paperwork and invoices sorted out and all of your workings out are done correctly and just making sure everything is legit and ready to be handed over if you are asked to. When you fill out the self assessment form out online most of the boxes you have to fill in have a [?] next to them and if you click on them, it gives you a little summary about what it means and what goes where if that makes sense. It made it a lot more helpful and easier to understand. It also rounds up your income and expenses to the nearest number to make it a little easier and at the end after you've filled everything in and submitted your form, you can download your filled in form as evidence you have filled it in and you also should get an email with a receipt of proof to say you have filled it in too.

I'm actually planning on getting my 2018/19 tax year done as soon as possible when it's due in April just to get it off my mind and over and done with. It's definitely not as complicated as I was expecting and I kind of felt a bit stupid that it took me so long to work up the courage to fill it in. Also if you want to know how I sort out my folders for my blog work then you might find this post a little helpful.

Also remember if you haven't completed your 2017/18 self assessment form then it needs to be done before midnight on the 31st January 2019!

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