Luke

Hello, I am a musician and write/record music. My income comes from streaming, licensing, and other associated royalties generated from these assets. A company has offered to buy part of my catalogue (master recordings and publishing/writer's share of those compositions). Would I pay CGT on this sale? Or would it be subject to income tax? Many thanks.

Thank you for your reply! I'd like to keep my sole trade and company separate (it is possible that I would like to sell the company in the future so I want to keep the entities distinct). However, both are in the same industry and the company releases some music made by the sole trade through a typical label/artist contract so there is potentially a grey area. To err on the side of caution, would it be safest for me to VAT register my sole trade and my company individually?

Hello, I sell PDFs of sheet music online so that people can read and play the music I have written. 701/10: Schedule 8: Group 3 says that Item No. 4: Music (printed, duplicated or manuscript) is zero rated. This is presumably for the physical copies. VBOOKS8503, which refers to the zero rated status of certain e-publications, says "This does not cover standalone items described in items 4 and 5 of Group 3 of Schedule 1 such as digital music manuscripts, maps or charts". To be clear, the sheet music PDFs I am selling aren't manuscripts (which I understand to be the handwritten originals) but the readable publishable versions. Can you please confirm whether or not I should be charging VAT on my sheet music PDFs? (I have just become VAT registered). Many thanks

Hello, I am a musician/composer and I have recently set up a Limited Company for a record label I have founded. My plan is to retain my own music copyrights outside the company and operate as a sole trader with these, and use the record label to release my music as well as that of others. When considered together (but not independently) these two enterprises are about to pass the VAT threshold. Will I need to apply for two separate VAT registrations (Sole Trader and Limited Company) or just one (for my Limited Company)? Thank you!

Hello, I send music recordings to record labels (businesses) based in EU and non-EU countries (USA, Italy, Netherlands, Germany, and Sweden) as well as the UK. These labels release the music and generate income from it, some of which they send back to me as royalties. My turnover from royalties from the UK labels is >£90000 but my royalty turnover from non-UK labels is greater than £90,000. Do I need to register from VAT? If so, do I charge VAT to the businesses in non-UK countries? Many thanks.