Starting new job

[Rayjay]

Hi,
I have been free lancing doing painting, gardening and so on for about 5 years. Just doing what I needed to get by. I’m starting a new job in a few weeks and am not sure how I go about getting tax code n all? Any advise

[jerome.lane]

Your employer should sort this out. You should complete a starter checklist which your employer will take you through and gives basic details about you and confirms whether you've been employed in the current tax year (since 6 April). I assume you've been completing tax returns and paying class 2 and 4 NIC. You will have to bear in mind that you may have a tax liability on your self employed income to date this year in January 2021.

[Rayjay]

Thank you for your reply. But no I haven’t been paying tax for going on 5 years. Iv only actually worked maybe 10 or 12 hours a week each week. I only worked what I needed to keep me going. Iv no way of providing an income so will I end up with a massive tax bill ?

[jerome.lane]

It depends on your hourly rate or profits, but I doubt there's anything to worry about.

During the 5 years, you've been providing casual labour, you won't have any income tax to pay provided your profits haven't exceeded the personal allowance:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rates-and-allowances-income-tax/income-tax-rates-and-allowances-current-and-past

Class 2 NIC is around £3 per week and helps secure your rights to basic state benefits. It sounds like you're missing 5 years of entitlement. There is a small earnings exemption where profits are less than around £6,365.

Class 4 NIC is due at 9% on profits above £8,632.

The rates above are for this tax year and are marginally less in previous years.

You do have the option of catching up with class 2 but this depends on your wider working history.

You might not have any tax liability and if you don't know the exact figures, you just have to be reasonably sure there isn't an issue.

By the sounds of it, there won't be any massive tax evasion issue, and now you are back paying tax and NIC, you might just have to wipe your feet and carry on.

Your history shouldn't effect your new employment, so there really isn't much to worry about or do. Good luck!