Becoming a Private Detective?

...in the UK.

I'd like to do this as a 'second job', on my own, from home- I would of course work hard despite it not being my primary method of income.

I know what I need and how to get started but could do with some tips as to what I might need to take in to account from a business perspective- do I have to declare my second income as I might only be paid twice a year, for example (e.g., there would be no consistency with incoming cashflow?)

Thanks!

You would have to declare to the tax office that you are setting up a new business (I can't recall the exact time scale but it's within a few weeks) then after 12 months they will send you a tax return, you fill it in and they take yet more tax off you. With that in mind keep all of your receipts so that you can claim back your expenses against profit at the end of the tax year.

You will need to declare your business for National Insurance, extra income = extra NI.

If you are going into this line of work look at insurance companies, they pay well if you keep getting them results.

You need to know the law, Data Protection legislation etc come into play in this line of work.

You should declare any earnings outside of your normal PAYE by self certificate. Your P60 should allow you to fill in the amount of tax you have paid on your normal job, and then the revenue and customs people will tell you what else to pay. They can change your taxcode to allow your tax to be taken from your wages.

I think that you might like to visit a govornment employment website or get advice from a jobcentre advisor to really answer this question properly.. I would imagine that you would have to declare your earnings but how it will effect you im not sure off.

You do have to declare ALL income to the Inland Revenue even if it was a one off. However, you can claim for any expenses incurred in doing this work as long as you can prove the expenses, IE> Petrol reciepts, Correspondence, Postage etc.