UK developers..... I have questions in relation to self assessment when declaring your earnings.... 1. Are you declaring your earning via self assessment or taking a risk not to or do you not have to if you earn less than £x amount? 2. If this is a hobby and you have a full time job (like me) do you only declare your app earnings on your self assessment or do you have to include all income (full time job included as we are already paying tax)? 3. I registered early last year and recently received letter saying i owe £xxx which i have to pay by Jan 31st - Self assessment deadline. Is this standard and then once i complete self assessment then they tell me if i have to pay more or i get a tax return depending on what i declare i earn? Any experience, help, guidance welcome Thanks Steve

Hi @Bonzo First off, I am no tax expert, but I have been grudgingly paying it for over 40 years. I don't know of any minimum thresholds where you do not have to declare income to the tax man unless your overall income is less than the minimum threshold for paying tax, but as you said you have a full time job, that isn't your situation. In your situation, (PAYE) I believe self assessment is basically a mechanism for checking if you've paid too much or too little and setting taxcode for the forthcoming year. Your employer deducts tax from the salary they pay you, based on your tax code, which is usually updated following a self assessment. If you have other income outside your full time job, the tax man expects you to declare it and it all goes into the calculation.

And I thought the IRS (U.S) was complicated. Sounds ugly, good luck!

Thanks of taking the time to reply. So when filling in my self assessment I should only be declaring my app figures as they already know my full time salary and tax correct? Thanks Steve

As its classed as a second income you have to declare it and it will be taxed @40% which is ugly im afraid :(

So can anyone explain the bill I have already received? Seems to be ~£70 per qtr charge that I have to pay by 31st Jan. Is this a standard fee and then when the review my SA they tell me if I owe more or of I am due a refund? Thanks Steve

Steve, as I remember, you have to put in all your incomes, including your existing salary (should be on the P60) into the form and the tax guys do the overall calculation from scratch. That way they work out the overall amount of tax you should have paid in that year. Rob, I think that it is only works out to be taxed at 40% if you are already a higher rate taxpayer, or it pushes you into that tax band. David, you were serious about being back!! Great to see. Alan

The only way to be clear with HMRC is to ring them direct; explain the total amount earned (second income) and they will take that into account and either offset it against your existing tax code or request a payment. The only way to avoid this is to set up as a ltd company which requires account submissions but carries with it certain perks (and risks) but has tax incentives that you may now be in a position to take advantage of if your business is at a point that effectively being self employed doesn't cut the mustard finance wise. Accountant time maybe? @Alan - My tax band is a mare yes so you are quite right on that score :(

Going into specific detail is a bit harder to answer; hitting my limits now! I think a bit of googling might be next. Check this page out, it might be helpful. http://www.thesite.org/work-and-study/workers-rights-and-pay/understanding-pay-as-you-earn-paye-1698.html