First steps to register as self-employed

When should I register?

Everyone starting out on their own needs to register with HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC). You should tell us as soon as you start working for yourself; we can not accept registrations before you start self-employment.

If you do not register immediately you begin self-employment, you may have to pay an initial penalty. The form you complete gives us the information needed to register for income tax and National Insurance purposes. Further penalties can also arise the longer you leave it to register when payments are due and have not been met.

If you are self-employed in a partnership, each of the partners must register separately.

You may want to refer to Giving your business the best start with tax (PDF 543K) which will give you useful help and advise on getting things moving when starting up in business.

Preparing to register

Before you can register on-line as self-employed you need to gather information about your circumstances. Providing us with this information now will save time as it ensures we have the correct details from the beginning without having to contact you again in the future.

If you register on line you must complete all the required details on the form in one session. For security reasons, you will be timed out after 15 minutes.

Information you will need to provide

You must have the following information ready:

name
address
National Insurance number*
date of birth
contact telephone number
contact email address
the date your self-employment commenced
the nature of your business
business address
Unique Tax Reference (UTR) if you were previously self-employed**
your business' UTR** if you are joining an existing partnership
the names and National Insurance numbers of your business partner(s)

*Your National Insurance number is made up of nine letters and numbers in the following format: DQ123456A. You can find your National Insurance number on your National Insurance card, letters from Social Security, documents sent to you from HMRC or on your pay slips.

** You will find your UTR quoted on previously issued Self Assessment correspondence, eg your Self Assessment return. It is made up of ten digits, eg 12345 567890.

How to pay your Class 2 National Insurance contributions (NICs)

To arrange payment of your NICs by Direct Debit, download and complete the CA5601 application form. Alternatively you can call 0845 915 4655 and request one.

Paying by Direct Debit has many advantages:

It is easy to set up - just fill in the application form and send it to us. You will need a suitable account at a bank or building society.
It runs automatically - once set up, your Direct Debit will run automatically.
It helps your budgeting - for people in business good cash flow and budgeting are essential. Direct Debit means that you have to plan for only one months payment in arrears.
It gives you peace of mind - payments are made on time, every time. So there is no risk of losing benefit because you forgot to pay.

If you are unable to pay by Direct Debit, quarterly bills will be issued in January, April, July and October. You may want to look at our current National Insurance rates.

Small earnings

If you expect your income from the business to be low for the tax year you may not have to pay Class 2 National Insurance contributions. If you would like more information on Small Earnings Exception (SEE) and the current SEE level please download form CF10 Self-employed people with small earnings (PDF 57K).

Employing someone else

If you are thinking of taking someone on, or already employ someone else, please see New Employers or telephone the New Employer Helpline on Tel 0845 607 0143 for further information and to register as an employer.

VAT

You don't have to register for VAT until your taxable turnover reaches a certain limit, but there's plenty of advice available when it does. For more information, see Giving your business the best start with tax (PDF 543K), or call the National Advice Service on Tel 0845 010 9000. To register for VAT, please download and complete the application form.

Working for only one person or firm

If you are going to be working for one person or firm, you may be an employee. For more information you can:

call the Self Assessment Helpline on Tel 0845 9000 444
contact your local HMRC office

If you are self-employed and part of a Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) we are unable to accept your online application, please download and complete the form CWF1 Becoming self-employed and being registered for NICs and/or tax (PDF 43K).

Construction Industry Scheme

To help contractors and subcontractors pay the right amount of tax and National Insurance, we have set up the Construction Industry Scheme (CIS). Under CIS, all payments made from contractors to subcontractors must take account of the subcontractor's tax statement as determined by HMRC. See the guide for more information.

If you intend working as a subcontractor in the construction industry you must be registered with CIS. Please see our information on Subcontractor registration.

Over state pension age

If you are a man or woman over state pension age, you must still register with us as a self-employed person.

Final things to remember before you complete your online application

It is very important that you have all the information you will need to provide before you start to complete your on line application, as you can not save the details once you have started and return to it at a later date.

When you submit your online application to HMRC it is secure, but our reply to you is not. This means that our email reply will not contain confidential information. If we need to send you any confidential information we will contact you by letter or telephone.

Once you have gathered your details together you need to select the appropriate application from the options below. Look at the following definitions to help you make the correct choice.

Sole trader

An individual or sole trader business is one that is owned and run by one person.

Partnership

A partnership refers to the relationship between two or more people who run and own a business together and share its profits or losses.

If you have business partners they must register separately.