Employment vs Sole Trading - UK
In the UK, is it possible to be in full time employment and be a sole trader at the same time?
i.e. Work a full time job as an employee. Do contract work as a sole trader on evenings and weekends.
Similarly, is it possible to run a private limited company and be in full time employment and/or sole trading at the same time?
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Yes, any combination is fine, as long as you have no contract that precludes it. – Steve Jones 11 years ago
1 Answer
There is no legal reason why you cannot be employed and self employed.
You will need to register as self employed and, I would suggest, notify your current employer though that is not a legal requirement outside of anything in your employment contract.
You will need to do self assessment each year and you will also need to start paying Class 2 (currently only £2.70 per week https://www.gov.uk/national-insurance/overview ) and possibly Class 4 National Insurance contributions on your profits as well (% based).
There is some good information about tax and NI for someone who is employed and self employed on the HMRC website http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/working/intro/employed-selfemployed.htm
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The other thing to check is the terms of your current employment contract. There will sometimes be terms in there about the amount and kind of employment you're allowed to take outside of your current job. – Adrian Howard 11 years ago
