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Best Wishes
Christina
www.sungold-bengals.co.uk

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Just got to add to this -


If you register your cattery as a business then the property that you will be breeding from will have to be re-classified as a commercial property somewhere down the line, although each area has different guidelines regarding the permitted uses of a private dwelling the local planning dept will have to be consulted in every case. Having done that you'll then have the issue of being prosecuted for poor trading, that's of course if no profit has been made for a consecutive number of financial years.

I have been self employed for over 12 years and believe me when I say that the HMRC will investigate any business that fails to make a reasonable profit after 2 years, they don't care what your motives are for persuing this business, only the profit (or lack of) you make from it.

In brief - If you fail to make a profit from a business and then go ahead and file a tax return to verifiy this then you will be entitled to and given a tax rebate.....not really the prime reason why you filed the return, but nevertheless that's what you'll get; after 2-3 years of doing this you will be investigated and potentially prosecuted for poor trading!

The best way to avoid this situation if you are a hobby breeder is to keep ALL receipts from day one, if you are then ever questioned about your hobby by an official body you can then provide the required info to confirm it's a none profit activity.

Sorry, but you're wrong on this...

Also - bear in mind that once registered as a business there's no going back, my advice would be not to do it and just document everything!

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Best Wishes,
Maddy

Agreed Ginny - That's also IF the planning dept is willing to grant permission in the first instance and allow the property to be changed over to commercial, bearing in mind that the majority of hobby breeders will live in residential surroundings.

In simple terms...the planning dept won't reclassify a standard 3 bed semi so easily, your neighbours will also have a say in that too!

I hope they check the freeads as well it shouldn't just be ped breeders who pay tax surely??

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Best Wishes
Christina
www.sungold-bengals.co.uk

The update

it's still the same really,If you buy a 'breeding cat' even if your intention is to 'hobby breed' you are a business & will need to complete tax returns showing any profit and of course any expenses incurred.
I think if you are a small breeder then the HMRC will accept that the occurence or a profit may be minimal or unlikely especially if you have a run of bad luck with vet bills!

The HMRC are unlikey to proceed with investigations against you if you only deal in cash, don't mention prices on any adverts, don't have all your breeding cats on your website and don't actually mention how many kittens you have had in each litter.

But I do worry that if some breeders are going to go to such great lengths of dishonesty to save paying the tax man a few extra pounds (let's face it the HMRC are about as official as they come) how honest will they really be to either the buyer of their pet or breeding kittens?

You never really know who is making the initial enquiry into buying a kitten, it could be Joe Bloggs equally it could be an agent working for the HMRC trying to 'catch' you out.

So you may have guessed that I will be completing tax returns for the past & future but I'm shocked at how much expenditure I've had over the last few years! It's very frightening when you actually see it written down!

I wouldn't let this put you off breeding if it truly is something you have a passion for - as they say 'nothing is certain but death & taxes'

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Best Wishes
Christina
www.sungold-bengals.co.uk