Legal question

[cover drive man]

Can I be registered as a sole trader at the age of 16?

[cpr]

Tax purposes, yes. You'll be treated the same as any other self employed/freelance/contractor. Many a child actor still gets screwed by us despite their age (not in the Roman Polanski way)

I say if you've got a plan for business, do it. Do it now whilst you've not got financial overheads such as a home/car/family/pet/cocaine problem. Worst that can happen is it'll go amazingly tits up, leave you in huge debt.... Just claim bankruptcy and go back to education, everything will have blown over by the time you've finished studying, and you'll be back with a clean slate

[silentstriker]

I've no idea what 'Sole Trader' means, so did anyone think of cobbler from Julius Caesar?

[sledger]

Originally Posted by silentstriker

I've no idea what 'Sole Trader' means, so did anyone think of cobbler from Julius Caesar?

Thought of this tbh.

[cpr]

Originally Posted by silentstriker

I've no idea what 'Sole Trader' means, so did anyone think of cobbler from Julius Caesar?

sole trader basically means you work for yourself, your profit is yours, the debts are yours to. Most common form of self employed work
A partnership is a more formal structure between multiple traders (common one being a husband and wife team who may run a shop etc, maybe a few solicitors running an office), still generally loosely structured though.
Beyond that your into setting up as a limited company, having named directors, formally employing staff, paying wages through PAYE tax systems (then paying yourself in dividends to dodge your own tax)

Note you can employ staff under all 3, usually a sole trader will take someone on a a contractee (ie, bring in for short periods, usually a big job that requires an extra hand, can then deduct that persons wage off their turnover)

[Faisal1985]

Don't know about other places but in Canada yes. You can be self employed at 16.

[Jakester1288]

Wanna become a businessman aye CDM? What sort of business?

[vic_orthdox]

Hmm, in Australia if the company is to be registered then it must be by someone over the age of 18.

[cover drive man]

Originally Posted by cpr

Tax purposes, yes. You'll be treated the same as any other self employed/freelance/contractor. Many a child actor still gets screwed by us despite their age (not in the Roman Polanski way)

I say if you've got a plan for business, do it. Do it now whilst you've not got financial overheads such as a home/car/family/pet/cocaine problem. Worst that can happen is it'll go amazingly tits up, leave you in huge debt.... Just claim bankruptcy and go back to education, everything will have blown over by the time you've finished studying, and you'll be back with a clean slate

Thanks

Originally Posted by Jakester1288

Wanna become a businessman aye CDM? What sort of business?

Not sure yet mate.

[fredfertang]

In English law it is not straightforward to enforce contracts against people who are under 18 so I suspect you'd have problems setting up any business which needed formal contractual arrangements with customers or suppliers

[cpr]

Well he can be a listed director of a company at 16, so setting as a business and having the contracts with them is a way round it.

[sledger]

Originally Posted by cpr

Well he can be a listed director of a company at 16, so setting as a business and having the contracts with them is a way round it.

Not sure if it would be as easy as that tbh. If CDM is the sole employee/director of a company he sets up then in essence the contracts would have to be enforceable against him, as there is nobody else they could be enforced against, even if they were in the companies name rather than his own.

[cpr]

True I suppose. I don't know the workings of it all though, just how to steal money off them.

[vic_orthdox]

Originally Posted by sledger

Not sure if it would be as easy as that tbh. If CDM is the sole employee/director of a company he sets up then in essence the contracts would have to be enforceable against him, as there is nobody else they could be enforced against, even if they were in the companies name rather than his own.

Hmm, thought that the corporate veil protected him from that. There's precedence in English law from memory.

[cpr]

AFAIK It does to an extent, as the transactions are not in your name.... There is a certain seperation between you the person and you the worker, however I've never dealt with the corporate side of things so I couldn't go any further.