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Posted Thu, 25 Jan 2024 16:36:56 GMT by
Hi, I am a UK tax resident and I'd appreciate some help. I operate as a sole trader running a digital marketing services business. The majority of my clients are registered outside of the UK. My biggest client is based in Switzerland, but many of my gambling clients are based in countries such as Malta, Denmark, France, Sweden and Estonia. I invoice them and they pay directly into my UK bank account. My overall yearly turnover is expected to slightly exceed £85,000, but the vast majority will come from B2B dealings with companies outside of the UK. It's my understanding that this income is outside the scope of VAT and won't contribute to the £85,000 threshold, so I won't need to register for VAT. Is that correct? As far as I'm aware, no tax has been paid on the foreign income, so I can't declare it in a SA106 form and claim a tax credit. [Unless I'm mistaken?] My main question is how do I declare my turnover accurately in my self assessment?  When filling out my self assessment, do I still select 'YES' to the question 'Is your turnover above £85,000'? If so, will this automatically be flagged in the system to indicate I should register for VAT?  Where on the self assessment form do I then explain that the majority of the income is from outside the UK, so I don't need to register for VAT?  If I select NO, then how do I fill out the self assessment form to accurately input my turnover so it totals over £85,000?  I would appreciate any help with this. Thanks in advance.
Posted Tue, 30 Jan 2024 09:34:18 GMT by HMRC Admin 8 Response
Hi,
Completing a self assessment tax return does not trigger VAT registrations.  
This is something you have to do separately from self assessment.  The foreign self employment income is added to your gross self employment turnover in SA104F.  
You then enter the VAT charged as an expense, which is set aginst the gross turnover, so that you arrive at the taxable net profit.  
You would only need to declare in SA106 as well, when you have paid foreign tax and wish to claim a foreign tax credit: 
Register for VAT, which advises of the action to take when your VAT taxable turnover is over £85k.
Thankyou.
Posted Thu, 08 Feb 2024 11:32:01 GMT by
Thanks for the reply. Just to clarify something. You said I should add the foreign self employed income in a SA104F - but from what I've read that form is all about Partnerships?  I am not in a Partnership, I act as a Sole Trader, so would the SA104F still be applicable in my situation? Also, my 'foreign income' is just payments from non-UK businesses into my UK bank account for services I've provided. In the foreign income sections of the Self Assessment form online, there doesn't appear to be a box that's suitable for this type of income. It's all about foreign income from funds, trusts, property, etc. Do I actually need to separate my payments from UK and non-UK businesses?  Or just combine them together as one total revenue that I put in the 'turnover' section in the online SA100? Thanks
Posted Tue, 13 Feb 2024 14:04:23 GMT by HMRC Admin 32 Response
Hi,

You can add them together for the self employment, not partnership, to have one turnover figure.

Thank you.

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