I have followed these forums for a few years and find the info very useful.
My dilema is that i got my O licence about a year ago and then gave up on the idea of starting out on my own.
Anyway out of the blue i have been offered the chance of some work if i was to buy a unit ,so that is what i plan to do in the next week.
The thing is , when i applied for my licence i put down a trading name as blah blah - not bothering to put limited. I always thought that it would just be a form filling exercise to ammend my details.
Now i have decided to pursue my original idea, i had always thought i would form a Limited company. However having spoken to VOSA ,i would have to go through the whole entire process of reapplying for an O licence incurring expense and time- plus before local residents objected to my application and i cannot bear going through all the grief once again.
How many of you Owner Drivers are Sole Traders?
Would you still do it as a Sole Trader?
PS PB- I too looked at the Yellow Megaspace at EVS (ex Deben??),seemed a lovely motor. Was tempted myself but looks like its gone .
On the subject ,i am obviously in the market for a Megaspace so if anyone comes across a bargain, i would appreciate any info.
Anyone looked at the Black 2543 for sale at Trafford Park £22k- is it worth the effort to go look?
You missed a mint 2548 about a month ago !
Im a sole trader. Keep it simple! To start up… have you seen how cheap ERF’s and Fodens are at www.walkermovements.co.uk , also, ■■■■■■■ engines are much better on fuel that a Merc
I am tempted to go look at a mint low mileage 2548 mega in the Midlands this weekend- might be the same one
Anyone know what to look out for? Known problems?
On the Sole Trader issue can someone advise on the following?
My plan is to purchase the unit and pay for the tax and insurance from my personal savings, thus having no fixed monthly costs whilst i find my feet.
As a Sole Trader i will be taxed on any Profit but can i not pay myself this money back without paying TAX if that makes sense.
IE : Unit £23k Tax £1200 Insurance £3000 -money put into business to start up and therefore money which i wish to take from profits and put back to savings overtime.
Plus am i right in thinking that even though i will not be VAT registered when i purchas vehicle i still can claim VAT back when i become registered in a few weeks time.
Plus which VAT scheme to most of you use? Cash Accounting etc.
i run as a partnership rather than a Ltd company ( me and SWMBO) , advice I’ve been given is that Ltd companys just cost a lot of money with no great protection anyway.
I use cash accounting for VAT, mainly cos I always have
there must be some way of avoiding paying tax on your initial investment - talk to your accountant , perhaps the business could rent office space in your house or something like that
sorry know nothing about mercs, so can’t help there
I am tempted to go look at a mint low mileage 2548 mega in the Midlands this weekend- might be the same one
Anyone know what to look out for? Known problems?
On the Sole Trader issue can someone advise on the following?
My plan is to purchase the unit and pay for the tax and insurance from my personal savings, thus having no fixed monthly costs whilst i find my feet.
As a Sole Trader i will be taxed on any Profit but can i not pay myself this money back without paying TAX if that makes sense.
IE : Unit £23k Tax £1200 Insurance £3000 -money put into business to start up and therefore money which i wish to take from profits and put back to savings overtime.
Plus am i right in thinking that even though i will not be VAT registered when i purchas vehicle i still can claim VAT back when i become registered in a few weeks time.
Plus which VAT scheme to most of you use? Cash Accounting etc.
Again many thanks - keep it coming
hello mate,
been a sole trader for 24 years, firstly in construction and now in haulage and have never seen a reason for doing it any differently.
as far as the vat goes, as i understand it, officially your vat reg from the day you send the application in so you can back date everything to that day although you’ll not have a number until they’ve sorted it ( a pal of mine has just been told 8-10 weeks) you’d obviously have to explain the situation to your costomer as you need to be including vat on your invoices from day one.
never bothered with the cash accounting scheme but spose it depends on who your working for and how your gona get paid?
why would you pay tax on money you’ve laid out to start up when you replace it? only money over and above that would be classed as profit and a clever man will show very little of that in the first year, plus if you start now you won’t pay any tax while jan 09.
seen the actros you mention, alliance n leicester? they seem to have a few clean motors at the right sort of money advertissed, think in truth they’re tied in to a few dealers and sort the finance deal out on selected wagons but may well be worth a look.
good luck.
Feel a lot more comfortable about this Sole Trader thing now. I travel to Leeds and back from Doncaster every day and have been looking at every wagon i pass to see whether they were limited or not and got the impression the majority were.
On the VAT side, just to recap, do you think it is correct that i will be able to claim the VAT back on the truck even though i am no VAT registered at the time of purchase ?
I think it’s only worth going ltd if you are making more than 45k a year profit as you can pay yourself in dividends at a lower tax rate (about 25%, i think) and don’t have to pay 40% tax on earnings above 45k.
megaspacedout:
On the VAT side, just to recap, do you think it is correct that i will be able to claim the VAT back on the truck even though i am no VAT registered at the time of purchase ?
Don’t buy the truck until you have applied for VAT registration then you should be OK. Give the VAT people a call on 0845 010 9000 - 08:00 to 20:00 Monday to Friday - and ask them to really put your mind at rest.
I did ring them the other day , but dont know if its me, sometimes when i ring up for info the people on the phone dont inspire confidence in their replies so although this chap did say i will be able to claim the VAT back i just wanted to check
If you invest 25k into your business it will be classed as a cash injection so you could take 5k back over 5 years without being taxed on it because it was your money in the first place.
If you buy a vehicle before being vat registered just make sure you keep all the invoices and reciepts. If you do any work before your vat number comes put “vat number applied for” at the bottom of your invoices then you can charge vat. well thats what my accountant told me and im not in jail, yet!
You will also get 40% tax relief from the purchase price of the truck in the first year then youll just get the depriciation over 5 years.
buy a van and use that as much as you can for “business use” the extra juice you need will come out of the truck tank !!
I wish you all the best and good luck.
Sole trader, but you might want to go Limited if you start employing people, or carry high value goods, then if someone ■■■■■ up and the [zb] hits the finacial fan the liability stays within the company, and doesn’t take the roof out from over your head.
megaspacedout:
Anyone know what to look out for? Known problems?
Try and stick to lower milage trucks and avoid pre 2000-01 builds like they were lepers.
you can retrospectively claim vat back over an 18 month period. which is nice.
on the mega front, avoid earlies and be ready for regular pad/disc replacement fun.
wouldn’t buy one in the top dollar bracket due to residuals, but would have a brand new one on contract then you can have peace of mind and know she’s not your problem at 4 years old. no offence to the thousands of happy actros pilots.
contact david gray haulage in ripon for the truth behind new mercs and their feckless dealer.
PB- I too looked at the Yellow Megaspace at EVS (ex Deben??),seemed a lovely motor. Was tempted myself but looks like its gone 
.
