Every year a good number of people in Bury and across Greater Manchester take the leap: the side project becomes a business, the redundancy becomes a fresh start, or the trade they’ve done for an employer becomes one they do for themselves. The work is usually the easy part. The paperwork is where people get caught out — not because it’s hard, but because nobody tells them the order to do things in.

Do you actually need to register?

If you’re working for yourself and expect to earn more than HMRC’s trading allowance from that work in a tax year, you need to register as self-employed for Self Assessment. Below the allowance you may not need to, but many people register anyway so the record is clean from the start. If you’re unsure, HMRC’s own online checker on GOV.UK takes two minutes — and it beats guessing.

The one deadline to write down

5 October after the end of the tax year in which you started. The UK tax year runs from 6 April to 5 April, so if you started trading in, say, July 2026, you need to be registered by 5 October 2027. That feels generous, and it is — which is exactly why people forget it. Register early; there’s no benefit in waiting.

How registration works

  1. Set up a Government Gateway account on GOV.UK if you don’t already have one.
  2. Register for Self Assessment as a sole trader. HMRC will issue you a Unique Taxpayer Reference — a ten-digit number you’ll use for life. Keep it somewhere safe.
  3. Wait for the activation code by post, then activate your online account. Only then can you file.

Do this well before your first return is due. The post can take a couple of weeks, and January is not the month to discover you can’t log in.

Three habits from day one

  • Separate bank account. Not legally required for a sole trader, but it turns your year-end from archaeology into admin.
  • Keep receipts as you go. Photograph them, file them, forget them until they’re needed. Costs you can’t evidence are costs you can’t claim.
  • Put tax aside monthly. A rough percentage into a separate pot means the January bill is a transfer, not a crisis — and it softens the surprise of payments on account in your second year.

National Insurance, briefly

Self-employed people pay National Insurance through Self Assessment rather than through a payslip. The rules and thresholds change more often than most, so I won’t quote figures here — check the current position on GOV.UK when you register, and factor it into what you set aside.

The honest summary

Registering is a morning’s work. What separates a calm first year from a frantic one is entirely the habits above — and they cost nothing.

Questions or comments about this note? Email me at talha0031@gmail.com.

Talha Sohail is an ACCA-qualified accountant from Bury, Greater Manchester, writing plain-English notes on tax and accounts for individuals and small businesses. This note is general guidance, not advice on your specific circumstances — tax rules and thresholds change, so check the current figures on GOV.UK or take advice before acting.