Employed and Self Employed (sort of) Very Confused

So for context I work full time but used to be self employed for many years. I've ceased it for the last two but some old residual funds trickle in, maybe 200 a year tops of my old self employment via a dead Youtube channel. The problem I now face is Youtube have massively complicated their tax info requiring UK, Ireland (tax treaty) and US tax info, forcing me to apply for UK tax residency documents and such to receive like £40 every 3-6 months. But the form requires me to list them as an employer and all things suggesting I need to restart Self Assessment. I'm further confused because though I'm employed, I've had to spend thousands on things needed purely for work (Laptop for when traveling to events, major pc components for certain tasks that I wouldn't have ever needed otherwise and such), that my employer isn't reimbursing me for, but should be claimable against my tax like when self employed? So would I see a Self Assessment for this anyway? I'm a little overwhelmed and at a point where I'm deciding whether to simply restart a side hustle to warrant doing a self assessment and claim work-expenses from my employment. Or to simply pull out of Youtube entirely and figure if there is another route to reclaiming these massive expenses I've eaten for my job this year.

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