• Do you have the final say in how the business is run?
• Do you risk your own money in the business?
• Are you responsible for meeting the losses as well as taking the profits?
• Do you provide the main items of equipment you need to do your job, not just the small tools many employees provide for themselves?
• Are you free to hire other people on your own terms to do the work you have taken on?
•  Do you pay them out of your own pocket?
• Do you have to correct unsatisfactory work in your own time and at your own expense?

To trade as a sole trader and work as self-employed, you will be required to register as self-employed with Inland Revenue within 3 months of starting to trade.  Failure to do so could result in a penalty of £100.  You can do this by completing a form CWF1 or calling your local Inland Revenue office.

As a sole trader/self employed person or company director you will be required to complete a self-assessment and pay tax once a year.

You will also be required to make weekly Class 2 NI contributions of £2.05 per week.  If you earn over £4745 during a tax year, you will also become liable for Class 4 NI.