Evening Work (apologies about the earlier dud post)

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Emmalite

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Hoping you folks can help me. I'm about to start teaching pc skills in the evening on a one on one basis. My question is relating to payments. How should I handle this? I'd like everything to be above board but I'm a bit clueless as to what I'm meant to do. I'll obviously agree a fee per hour with the customer in advance but how should I proceed? Should I expect payment after each session or should it be paid in part upfront and then in full at the end of the course. Should I invoice them and issue a receipt? Should I accept cash? And how do I go about notifying the tax office, or do I even need to (is there some thresehold of earning - I don't expect to be earning a huge amount). Any help or advice would be greatly apprecitated. And apologies for the amount of questions asked (complete beginner to this kind of thing!!) Oh, and I should add - will my employer be notified about this if I declare it to the tax office? I'd rather keep things seperate if I could.
 
Definitely cash up front, or after each session. You definitely don't want to be chasing people for cash owed.
 
Thanks for the reply Rainyday. You don't think asking for cash would appear unprofessional in any way do you? I know I'm only starting out but I do hope to do more of think kind of work in the future and I'd like to have a good start. And what about declaring it? Is there a need / is it best practice? I'd love to hear from people in a similar role and find out how they handle the whole payment issue.
 
You will have to be paid by cash or cheque as if you wanted to accept laser or credit cards you would need to arrange this with a bank. Not sure exactly how to go about it but it does cost something as far as I know (have vague memories of my dad moaning about having to pay a certain percentage of all the amounts paid by credit card). Don't worry about it, I don't think there is anything unprofessional about only accepting cash. Get your hands on a receipt book (duplicate one) and this will help you to keep proper records. Or print out simple invoices beforehand which you can mark paid when you get the money. You might also consider getting a stamp made with your name/company name, phone number, maybe address. I got one of these made up and it cost about €20.

I'm not sure about declaring it. I think you should declare it even if it's not going to be a lot of income. If you register for the revenue online system you'll be able to do this quite simply, specially if you make friends with an accoutant or someone studying accountancy :)
 
Thanks Janet. It seems declaring is the way to go. Unfortunately I don't know anyone in the accounting field! Can you shed anymore light on registering on the revenue online system? And, how bad will this affect me (as in how much am I likely to pay!!)?
 
Hi Emmalite - Just to clarify, I was really trying to emphasise the 'up front' bit, rather than the 'cash' bit. Nothing wrong with accepting cheques, provided you lodge them promptly to highlight any chancers before their next training session.

If you are using your existing tax credits fully on your main job (salary > €29k), you will end up paying 42% tax on your additional income. The Revenue online system may be a bit daunting for someone starting out. You can simply declare your extra income on the relevant form (Form 12 I think) from the Revenue website. A call to your local tax office will point you in the right direction. Make sure you ask them about the timings of the payments, as you could end up facing bills for interest of you are late.
 
Oh, I see. Starting to get the picture now. Yes, rainyday, I already fully use all my tax credits to it's the 42% that will be applicable. It just seems like to much though. I'm not even going to be earning that much!! But I suppose it's better to be safe than sorry - I don't want a knock on the door looking for back dated money. Do I need to inform my employer of this other work (as in do the accounts department need to make any adjustments etc) or will filling out that form your mentioned rainyday be all I have to do? Thanks again for the assistance.
 
Do I need to inform my employer of this other work (as in do the accounts department need to make any adjustments etc) or will filling out that form your mentioned rainyday be all I have to do?
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Normally, you won't have to tell your employer, unless you have non-compete or moonlighting clauses in your contract.
 
You will also have to pay PRSI on your earnings in addition to PAYE.
 
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