Shaun

Hi all, im hoping someone can help me here. i'll lay out the context of my issue. - i worked in full time employment in digital marketing until may 2023, where i then ended it. - i started working as a freelance digital marketer (self employed) and still am at present. - i also started a shopify selling digital products and still am at present. last year i completed a self assessment for the shopify, i made a loss so i wrote it off with the £1000 option and i was getting taxed from work so didnt have to do anything from that side of things - all good for 22/23 tax & self assessment. so stepping into 23/24 tax & self assessment, this year i made a profit, but i am confused on how to register it and get the correct figure. i have calculated the figure to be completely different to what HMRC calculated when i tried doing the self assessment, its about 7k higher than what i got, and im completely lost on how this is possible. im hoping ive done something wrong, because im in serious trouble otherwise. for starters, im unsure on a few things: 1. can i put all income into one self assessment, so lets say, from my freelance marketing job, and also the shopify website where i sell digital products? this is what i did on the first attempt, the tax figure that came back was insane and not what i was calculated to be paying for tax - so im hoping this was the wrong way to do it. 2. i noticed when i was going through the self assessment, it mentioned somewhere that i need to register as a sole trader if i am self employed, this is new to me - is this correct even it i don't have a "business". Im not registered as a freelance marketer, its just me and i've currently been doing this for one company for the last year now, as far as im aware i never knew you have to register as a sole trader (or could) in order to do self assessment. 3. if i cant put all the income from my freelance marketing and shopify income into one total figure to get taxed on, how should i do it? could someone please explain this part step by step. 4. i assume hmrc know that i am not working in full time employment anymore because surely it would be on their system that it ended in may 2023, or is this incorrect? there doesnt seem to be anywhere to update that im not working there anymore, wondering if its possible this is why the tax calculation was so skewed? thanks for the help.