Hi I need advise from you guys if you are already running your own business. I recently registered a private company and initiated itunes developer account change from individual to corporate. Itunes have approved and requested I complete the agreement. My issue at the moment is the Tax bit and I am not sure what the implication is since I already have a day to day job. My plan was to kick start this first, see how it goes before I leave my current job. Should I still use my Tax code for my current job or should I get HMRC to give me a new Tax code for the private company? Thanks
The best suggestion I can give is to consult a tax professional in your area for advice. Tax advice from forums should be regarded as a guideline only, everyone is going to have a different situation.
Guideline: If you are opening a Corporate iTunes Account, the Company is a "Person/entity", not you. Your personal Tax ID has nothing to do with the company. So you have to set up a Tax ID for the company and have your accountant do the reporting for the company to the Govt Revenue Service to be compliant in your country. This is not Apple's concern, they just want to know where to send the money. You are responsible for reporting earnings. You quoted HMRC, so I am assuming you are in UK. Apple does not do withholding Tax. Likewise, any ad network you do business with, you may have to do tax compliance with them. With USA based Ad Networks, like Chartboost, they would want some sort of confirmation that you are outside of USA. I live outside USA, but my bank is in USA. So I had to complete a W8BEN form as a foreign national living in a different taxed country who receives money in USA. One of the advantages of having a Company is that you can claim expenses against earnings, e.g. Hiring Artists and Developers, Web-hosting, marketing expenses etc. As an individual, it is not as transparent.
you could start as an individual then, when the money would justify all the expenses that you need to incur to run a company, you could then register the company and create a apple ID specific to the company. Then you could transfer your assets (games) to the company. Your consultant would be able to advise you on what is the breaking point to look for that would justify this move.
Thanks guys, didn't get notified of all these comments. Much appreciated. Yes as @netkomm mentioned someone also advise as start as individual. I already did that but reason for my switching was to stop Apple showing my name in App so when I go marketing outside, people don't start tracing me to my home as a security measure. As per tax I didn't realize it will be complex since I am still working for an organisation but doing this as hobby so the idea of using my personal tax code to complete the Apple registration becomes confusing. For now since Apple had already done the switch, this can't be undone so will have to release ONLY free games for now until I am ready to go full time. Thanks
I have an question in line with this thread. If I register as an individual, does my name show up as the publisher? I don't really mind, just seems weird to me. As in Published by: Joe Schmo or Published by: Buildbox The later certainly looks more professional.
@mojpoj Yes. If you register as an individual your name appears under the title. You will see many titles under individual names including some Top 200 games.
