Setting up as sole trader

Hi folks, I'm hoping someone can give me advice for my girlfriend who wants to set up as a freelance translator (English to French, German to French and Spanish to French if anyone needs the service! Specialising in financial/regulatory). We think sole trader would be best as there is no need for a ltd company, yet. She has some set up costs (specialised software, IT equipment) so can anyone tell me (a) are there grants available - if so from whom and under what conditions? (b) is it possible to be VAT registered for such a business to be able to claim back tax? (c) could she rent a room/office from our accomodation and charge it against the business?

If anyone has any experience in setting up a similar business we'd really appreciate it.

Cheers, David

She should get an advisor, but in short:

Try the enterprise boards for grants, but they usually don't offer these to service businesses, however, she would get a wealth of information from them.

She will need to register for Income Tax, and if under the VAT limit, may also voluntarily register for VAT (if over VAT limit must register for VAT).

She could rent a room, but then that would give rise to rental income in the hands of the payee. Also could give rise to Capital Gains Tax issues, and possibly needing to register for business rates (or similar). So generally, not a good idea for property owners to claim use of home, however, could be considered if a rented property and if there is nothing in lease to prevent this.