limited or sole trader?

[brummie tiler]

just wondering are most of you guys sole traders or anybody set up as a limited company? was just curious as to what the benefits are of each? Also anybody advertise with yell.com online? what experiance do you have with this do you get much interest from it?

thanx

[laurami tiling]

well going limited used to be a way of saving some tax but mr gordon brown raised the tax`s for smaller ltds so wiping out any tax advanteges

[Dave]

going ltd stops you losing your assetts if you go bankrupt, no other benefits i can think of. hope this helps mate.

[tony TLC]

sole trader my self works for me and am on yell.com as a freebee dont pay though not enough return
but if they want to do a freebee let them
would you get any1 from yellow pages????

[brummie tiler]

very true tony!

[uug197h]

(Ltd) protect your assetts limited to what you want EG:£100 if you go bust you only pay £100. You can claim for up to 5 years set up costs EG: courses, tools ect. if your sole trader you can't claim for retraining EG: you are a tiler and you train to do electrical or plumbing this is would be retraining you can claim if you are LTD, also LTD you are employed by the company . the down side you have to pay company tax and paye.

[grumpygrouter]

Had to form a Ltd Co. myself to avoid VAT registration. I am also "Sole Trader" in a different life and VAT registered. Only way to avoid VAT for me was to be limited. You would need to be aware that much more administration is required as is the requirement to file accounts in a specific format. Companies Act 2006 will make things a little simpler when it is fully up and running but not yet.

If run properly, there can still be small tax advantages but this is probably outweighed by the time taken to do it properly. Be a Sole Trader, but also seek GOOD professional advice re bookkeeping etc.

[NETT Darren]

Stay as a sole trader, much easier and less hassle and cheaper on the accounts