Can a 17 year old become a sole trader?

jbrana said:
At the moment I'd owe 33% tax on any profits using the margin scheme. Regardless of that my bank has closed my account due to it being used as a business account. At this point I'm just trying to figure out if I can own shares in a limited company/be a sole trader.
Thanks
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And the bank has no other option than closing the account until you turn 18. You cannot enter legally binding contracts until you are 18.

You need to talk to an expert on it to be honest but there is the concept of 'beneficial ownership', which extends to minors.
This means you can be the owner of a company as a minor, whilst of course not being able to act as a director.
Working as a sole trader might not be an option - I'd even say it is not in fact for same reason as you can't open a business account until you turn 18. And given you are worried about the profit you are making, you'd probably need to think about VAT etc., which leads me again to the point that you cannot enter legally binding contracts etc. etc.
EDIT: VAT applies for a motor dealer "In the case of Irish-registered second-hand vehicles, VAT is due on the difference between the sale price and the purchaser price of the vehicle. Under no circumstances can any portion of the price, e.g. the VRT element, be separated from the rest of the sale price when calculating the VAT liability."

You are however very much allowed to pay taxes on income as a minor btw.
 
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Where are you getting the 33% from?

You’d always own the company.

Someone just needs to hold the shares on your behalf because you’re under 18.

When they step away, there’s no change of beneficial ownership, so no CGT or stamp duty.

It’s just a change of legal ownership.

The director point is separate.
 
I think some of us are struggling to understand why you want to form a limited company at this point rather than just running your business as a sole trader. The latter is relatively simple, the Ltd option not so much.

I've experienced both. Husband and I were both sole traders, then in 2007 his business profits were huge so we formed a ltd company, both directors. It was quite an effort but worth it (we thought) to keep the profits in the company, to have more pension options and reduce the liability to lose everything in the unlikely event he was sued. Fast forward 12 months to the crash and his work and income dropped, rendering the process less useful. Since then it's been easier to keep the company going until he retires - our accountant mentioned that changing back to sole trader could possibly raise flags with Revenue and prompt an audit.

I'd go sole trader route for now if I were you but it's your life.
 
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