Do I need to register Affiliate Marketing webiste as a business ?

**gizmondouk** · 08-12-11

Good afternoo guys. I will be launching a website in the near future advertising various products from several companies as an Affiliate. I am wondering if i need to register this as a business. I believe i need to as the site may be making money as a result of people making purchases via my site.

Could someone please give confirmation and any further information would be greatly appreciated.

Regards

**darrenb** · 08-12-11

Yes if you are starting to trade you have 3 months to notify HMRC, assuming you are going to start by being self employed.

More information: HM Revenue & Customs: Starting up in Business

**MattSweet** · 08-12-11

It's not so much you have to register as a business, you have to register as self employed. As mentioned above you need to do this within 3 months of starting to trade - ie when you first receive cash.

Registering as a business (a limited company) is different and you don't actually need to do this. You can stay self employed for as long as you like. There may be tax benefits further down the line of becoming a company but I wouldn't worry about it yet.

**gizmondouk** · 08-12-11

Thank you ever so much for your reply guys , i found it very helpful and exactly what i was looking.

I just want to make sure everything i do is legal and i inform the correct agencies. In relation to registering as a business Matt, your reply was helpful as i am happy just to be classified as self employed. However i do have a career which i will continue to do , do you know if this will make a difference.

The site is going to be a project and hobby for me to fill some time.

**MattSweet** · 08-12-11

No it should be fine. Many affiliates work full time and do this on the side.

All you need to consider is the tax implication. Just make sure you keep good records of income and expenditure. If it's small scale then a simple excel sheet is fine to work out profit and loss. If you keep proper records from the start it will make it easier for you (or an accountant) to do a self assessment tax return in the future.

I'd also recommend using a separate bank account for business purposes - as you are self employed just open a personal account somewhere. This keeps all your money separate then and help with accounting.

http://tips.hrbs.biz/starting-a-busi...siness/#more-9 - useful guide here from Keith who does accounts for some affs on here. Keith refers to it as a business but essentially it's being self-employed under your own name.

**darrenb** · 08-12-11

Having a career will not make a difference, if you are employed then you will just have both employment and self employment income.

To start with, if it is just a hobby/project you should only need to worry about paying tax which will be done via self assessment and additional NI contributions.

If you expect your earnings to be less than £5,315 per year (2011/12 rate) you can apply for a small earnings exemption and avoid the additional £2.50 Class 2 NI.

The need to run under a Limited Company and other things such as VAT can be dealt with further down the line should things take off.

I would suggest running it all through a different bank account and keep records of any income and expenditure as it will make your life easier when you need to submit tax returns.

One further point, if you make no money i.e. a loss initially this can be offset against employment income.

**gizmondouk** · 08-12-11

Cheers again everybody , very informative.

Darren , regarding your last comment in your post

(One further point, if you make no money i.e. a loss initially this can be offset against employment income.)

do you mean that if my site makes no money, i dont have to worry about reigestering for tax purposes ?

**darrenb** · 08-12-11

You should still register as self employed within 3 months of starting (otherwise there is a £100 penalty for late registration).

What I am saying is that if you make money then you pay tax on this however if you spend money setting up a website and make nothing then you can get tax relief on losses against other income via your tax return.

**MikeCronnie** · 08-12-11

Better way, open up a bank account in the name of your child, and make her do the work

If she's under 16, she won't have to pay tax... mwuhahahaha

Ok, don't take that too seriously... lol

**D4N** · 08-12-11

There is some really good helpful information here, its helped me out, thanks

**Sue_Neal** · 12-12-11

Just wanted to thank gizmondouk for starting this thread and all those who've responded - it's a question I've been meaning to ask and the information's really helpful - many thanks!