part-time PAYE job and part-time freelancing

[fizzy]

I have recently left my full time PAYE web development job and am now considering my options career wise.

The route that looks most attractive to me at the moment is to get a standard part-time job within the PAYE system, and do some freelance web development work if opportunities arise too. This freelance work would probably mainly be outsourcing from existing web dev companies / sole traders. However, if I got my own projects, I would be dealing directly with those clients.

While I have tried to do some basic research on setting up as a sole trader, both on these forums and other sites, I would appreciate some advice on what I need to do to make all my work activities legit as I am quite new to this.

I had thought that if companies wanted to outsource work to me, that I would need to have a business name (be registered as a sole trader) to deal with them. However, I have seen the term "hobby business" mentioned in recent posts and I do not know whether my freelancing would constitute a "real business"!

The long term dream would be to quit the part-time PAYE job and switch to doing freelance web development full-time if it ever took off. However, I am realistic and there is a big supply of developers in Ireland (at all levels) and while I have technical skills, I lack business experience etc.

Do I need to register a business name and set up as a sole trader in order to do a bit of freelancing, or can I just stay a PAYE worker and include any freelancing income as "extra income" in an end of year return? Forgive my ignorance!

Thanks in advance

 

[polar]

Have a look here.

 

[fizzy]

Many thanks polar!

Apologies - believe it or not i had looked through recent posts in this forum and searched, but i had missed that because it wasn't under business - d'oh! my brain is turning to mush even after just a couple of weeks out of the rat race.

That's very helpful, and I noted your own advice in particular in it. Hope your sideline is going well.

I'm a bit different in that unlike that poster, I only envisage working part-time in PAYE, so my freelance income could be a significant proportion of my total income depending on just how part-time my PAYE job would be. Does this make a difference?
Also, am I likely to run into issues with companies/other sole traders who will only engage with those who are registered sole traders etc? If sticking as PAYE would limit the freelance work I could do just, I guess I should start a sole trader business??

 

[podowd]

Whether your freelance income is a major part of your total income or a minor part you would still register with the revenue as a sole trader. This doesn't necessarily mean you are VAT registered, just that you are registering as someone who will have self-employed income. You may encounter issues from companies who will not deal with a sole trader but this is likely to be an issue only if you are on a long term contract and there's a risk you'd be viewed as an employee. Starting out there's no reason why you can't be a sole trader, keeping your costs down. we specialise in accountancy services for freelance workers and will be doing some web development soon on a couple of new websites i'm working on so we may be able to help each other out! you'll find our contact details on www.prima.ie if you're interested.