Self-employment alongside full-time job
What you need to do is register as a sole trader. This will automatically register you for self assessment so you don't have to do that separately. For a simple business like you describe that's it.  Completing your self assessment will take care of all your income tax and national insurance obligations (although as mentioned in your previous question there shouldn't be any NI to pay if you're only making £600 or so a year).
"Seriously. I've been in nonprofit for 8 years. I just reentered the market after two years of grad school and was shocked. Full time 40 hours a week program managers listed under ""Americore programs"" offering $1,000 a month as a stipend, with Masters degree to qualify. Those jobs were $30 -$50,000+ five years ago and that was on the low end. The level of job rebranding in this market is unbelievable. Employers should be ashamed.  The same with ""internships"". I really believe labor laws need to start regulating this practice." "After doing a little research, I was actually surprised to find many internet resources on this topic (including sites from Intuit) gave entirely incorrect information. The information that follows is quoted directly from IRS Publication 929, rules for dependents First, I will assume that you are not living on your own, and are claimed as a ""dependent"" on someone else's tax return (such as a parent or guardian). If you were an ""emancipated minor"", that would be a completely different question and I will ignore this less-common case. So, how much money can you make, as a minor who is someone else's dependent? Well, the most commonly quoted number is $6,300 - but despite this numbers popularity, this is not true. This is how much you can earn in wages from regular employment without filing your own tax return, but this does not apply to your scenario. Selling your products online as an independent game developer would generally be considered self-employment income, and according to the IRS: A dependent must also file a tax return if he or she: Had wages of $108.28 or more from a church or qualified church-controlled organization that is exempt from employer social   security and Medicare taxes, or Had net earnings from self-employment of at least $400. So, your first $400 in earnings triggers absolutely no requirement to file a tax return - blast away, and good luck! After that, you do not necessarily owe much in taxes, however you will need to file a tax return even if you owe $0, as this was self-employment income. If you had, for instance, a job at a grocery store, you could earn up to $6,300 without filing a return, because the store would be informing the IRS about your employment anyway - as well as deducting Medicare and Social Security payments, etc. How much tax will you pay as your income grows beyond $400? Based upon the IRS pages for Self-Employment Tax and Family Businesses, while you will not likely have to pay income tax until you make $6,300 in a year, you will still have to pay Social Security and Medicare taxes after the first $400. Roughly this should be right about 16% of your income, so if you make $6000 you'll owe just under $1000 (and be keeping the other $5000). If your income grows even more, you may want to learn about business expense deductions. This would allow you to pay for things like advertisement, software, a new computer for development purposes, etc, and deduct the expenses out of your income so you pay less in taxes. But don't worry - having such things to wonder about would mean you were raking in thousands of dollars, and that's an awfully good problem to have as a young entrepreneur! So, should you keep your games free or try to make some money? Well, first of all realize that $400 can be a lot harder to make when you are first starting in business than it probably sounds. Second, don't be afraid of making too much money! Tax filing software - even totally free versions - make filing taxes much, much easier, and at your income level you would still be keeping the vast majority of the money you earn even without taking advantage of special business deductions.  I'd recommend you not be a afraid of trying to make some money! I'd bet money it will help you learn a lot about game development, business, and finances, and will be a really valuable experience for you - whether you make money or not. Having made so much money you have to pay taxes is not something to be afraid of - it's just something adults like to complain about :) Good luck on your adventures, and you can always come back and ask questions about how to file taxes, what to do with any new found wealth, etc!" "&gt;these jobs aren't meant for adults with families.  Says who?  You?  Society?  Just because people _think_ that's how it should be doesn't make it correct.  A job is a job.  Yes, it's requires less skill to work at Subway than most jobs but that doesn't mean you should be be forced to live below poverty because you have that job.  They shouldn't be making surgeon wages, but no one is arguing for that.  People want to live like a human being.  They want to pay their heat bill so they're not freezing in the winter.  &gt;They're part time, no-responsibility positions that pay beer money  Want to know why?  Because companies choose that.  They could easily cut their employees by a third, pay a livable wage and full time status to the remaining employees and STILL grow/expand and hire back the people they cut.    Aldi's isn't doing bad.  Costco is doing pretty well.  QuikTrip is growing like a weed.  All these places are ""beer money jobs for teens and students"" yet they've found success in paying actual, livable money to their employees.    People think that if companies raise their wages they'll go bankrupt and they've done a good job convincing everyone that.  It's been shown that [raising the minimum wage doesn't affect employment](http://www.cepr.net/documents/publications/min-wage-2013-02.pdf).  If anything it helps because less turnover = more efficiency = more money for the company.    TL:DR Ya'll motherfuckers need empathy." Loving the discussion. I can't argue that new areas of the economy will open up and allow for some offset for those jobs lost through increasing productivity/efficiency, but I have a hard time believing that they can fully offset, but certainly anything is possible.   Do you think that this push toward self employment can happen as fast as losses due to automation, or will there be some lag time? That lag time is where we (as a society) will feel massive pain, which, I argue is at least part of what we've been seeing in the last few years. "ITR-4 is for incorporated business. For freelancing, You can fill ITR 2 and declare the freelancing income as ""income from other source"". Refer to the Income Tax website for more details" I heard that a C-Corp being a one person shop (no other employees but the owner) can pay for the full amount 100% of personal rent if the residence is being used as a home office. Sure. Especially if you don't mind being audited. Technically, it doesn't matter how the money gets where it goes as long as the income tax filings accurately describe the tax situation. But the IRS hates it when you make personal expenses from a business account, even if you've paid the required personal income tax (because their computers simply aren't smart enough to keep up with that level of chaos). Also, on a non-tax level, commingling of business and personal funds can reduce the effectiveness of your company's liability protection and you could more easily become personally liable if the company goes bankrupt. From what I understand the 30% would be the expense, and the 70% profit distribution. I recommend you just pay yourself and pay the rent from your personal account and claim the allowed deductions properly like everyone else. Why & when it would make sense to do this? Are there any tax benefits? Never, because, no. You would still have to pay personal income tax on your 70% share of the rent (the 30% you may be able to get deductions for but the rules are quite complicated and you should never just estimate). The only way to get money out of a corporation without paying personal income tax is by having a qualified dividend. That's quite complicated - your accounting has to be clear that the money being issued as a qualified dividend came from an economic profit, not from a paper profit resulting from the fact that you worked hard without paying yourself market value. I feel the need to separate my freelance accounts from my personal accounts. Yes, you should. Should I start another savings account or a current account? Do you need the money for daily spending? Do you need to re-invest in your business? Use a current account. If you don't need the money for business expenses, put it away in your savings account or even consider term deposits. Don't rule out a hybrid approach either (some in savings account, some in current account). What criteria should I keep in mind while choosing a bank? (I thought of SBI since it has a lot of branches and ATMs). If you are involved in online banking and that is sufficient for most of your needs, bank and ATM locations shouldn't matter all that much. If you are saving a good chunk of money, you want to at least have that keep up with inflation. Research bank term deposit interest rates. The tend to be higher than just having your money sit in a savings account. Again, it depends on how and when you expect to need the money. What do I keep in mind while paying myself? Paying yourself could have tax implications. This depends on how are set up to freelance. Are you a business entity or are you an individual? You should look in to the following in India: The other thing to consider is rewarding yourself for the good work done. Pay yourself a reasonable amount. If you decide to expand and hire people going forward, you will have a better sense of business expenses involved when paying salaries. Tips on managing money in the business account. This is a very generic question. I can only provide a generic response. Know how much you are earning and how much your are putting back in to the business. Be reasonable in how much you pay yourself and do the proper research and paperwork from a taxation point of view. When I worked for myself it was bad because But Ultimately I gave up my business and went to work for a school teaching, and through a series of other jobs ended up in a very stable reliable trustworthy job.  When I was younger the variable paycheck didn't outweigh the freedom.  Now that I am a dad I only think about having insurance and a secure job. The other option to consider is having a regular job, and then doing a little side work for yourself.  You get all the benefits of both (and all the detractions)