| | | | | | | | | Important information for UK auction sites | | | | | |
Post: #1 Posted: Sun Oct 26, 2008 3:25 pm |
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redrob |
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Joined: 30 Aug 2008 |
Posts: 56 |
Location: UK |
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For UK auction websites only
I thought I will make this post so people know what legal information they need to provide as I have seen so many auction websites on this forum and 99% of them are not even registered as a company If you are providing this type of service and you are not a registered company then you are breaking the law in the UK
1. You need to get your website registered with companies house
this is the link http://www.companieshouse.gov.uk
when you have done this you will receive your certificate to confirm that your business is registered on that certificate you will see your company number you need to provide this information so the public can see it.
2. If you are getting more than £60,000 a year you need to get yourself registered for a tax number
this is the link http://www.hmrc.gov.uk again you need to provide this information to the public.
3. You need to provide Privacy Policy & Terms & Conditions for your own safety and for the public this is a good site to go to to get yourself started
this is the link http://www.simply-docs.co.uk.
4. You need to provide an address of where the company is registered
If you have any comments then please feel free to post them I will help you out in any way that I can.
If there is any information that I may have missed then feel free to post that information I hope this information helps you. |
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Post: #2 Posted: Sun Oct 26, 2008 5:10 pm |
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Enthusiast |
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Joined: 13 Sep 2007 |
Posts: 121 |
Location: UK |
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A little knowledge is a dangerous thing and I'm sorry to say you haven't got your facts right though you're going, partially, on the right wavelength.
You DON'T have to be a registered limited company to run an online auction website or any other commercial website come to that. You can be an individual (sole owner), a partnership (two or more people) OR a registered limited company (ie a corporate entity with directors and limited liability). It might well be good sense to be set up as a limited company but you don't have to. What you DO need to do on any commercial website (in the EU & I believe the US) is state clearly who the owners are i.e. name of the owners whether individual(s) or company and set out the address where their office is (registered office in the case of a limited company) and other contact details. If you're VAT registered (and you can be this whether you're a limited company or not) you need to state the VAT registration number. If you're a limited company then you need to state the registration number and country of registration (UK companies can be registered in various bits of the UK).
Companies House only comes into the frame if you're a registered company. They are not concerned with individuals and partnerships running businesses.
I don't know what you're referring to when talking about £60,000. If your TURNOVER (not profit) was £64,000 in the 12 months to 31st March this year you MUST register for value added tax (VAT) (£67,000 from 1st April this year) whether you're a company or not. If turnover is under those limits then it is optional but sometimes it can be worthwhile registering anyway.
What you MUST do if you're starting a business (whether as a company,
individual or partnership) is register the fact you are running a business with the Inland Revenue & Customs within three months of the commencement of the business. This is quite a seperate matter from registering for VAT. And of course if you make a profit there will be tax liabilities (& things you can set against tax) but all that is far too complex to go into here.
Anybody brave enough to be thinking of starting yet another online auction site really needs to see a solicitor or a qualified accountant (Chartered or Certified) before moving one inch. If you can't afford to do that then really you can't afford to be starting a business.
Where I do partly agree with you Rob, is that a lot of the sites on here are failing to provide the required ownership details and I've moaned about that here endlessly. But it's certainly not anything like 99% of them or anything near that. Nor, as I've said, do they have to be set up as companies. Having worked for over 20 years in the legal profession when I was younger, subsequently been Company Secretary for a number of companies and currently a director of a charity set up as a company limited by guarantee (not by shares) I do know a wee bit about the subject! |
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