When should i register with the tax man

[user1978]

I am a little confused as to when i should declare myself as self employed. Some people say ASAP and others within 3 months.

If i register within 3 months will i have to declare my earning's from day 1 or from when i register ???

[teenymunchkins]

As far as I am aware you should register from day 1.  Most of your start up expenses will be happening in the first 3 months anyway i.e. website hosting, purchase of domain names etc so would be in your interests to register so you can put these down as expenses at the end of the tax year 

[user1978]

I never thought of it like that i was thinking i might get a couple of months of trading tax free 

[vittu]

you will need to pay tax from the first day you start trading,

you have three months to register your business from the day you start trading, this is just to give you some time to get your business in order, but all the money you take previous to registering your business needs to be accounted for, and any profit made will need to be declared.

Its always best to register sooner rather than later, waiting till nearer the end of the three months wont save you any money, as everything still needs to be accounted for and declared anyway, from the day you start trading.

Leaving it till after three months could get you a small fine, similar to handing in a late self assessment