[UK] Sole Trader vs Limited Company

[MayerT]

I've made the decision to take domaining seriously, after some time away, much research and theorising - this will be alongside my full time employment.

I understand the differences between sole traders and limited companies, am aware of the general benefits of both, from the lower tax rate on dividends to the ease of operating as a sole trader.

My question is aimed at UK domainers who are/were employed full time and operated their domaining business alongside this - why did you choose to operate as a sole trader/limited company?

 

[lock]

I am not from UK but Australia but this is going to be similar. If i was buying dot com dot uk sites i would definitely run as a company as need it to secure them but if buying com could run that and pay personal tax when make sale but need to work out tax brackets once business is making money whether it is of benefit to form company.
It is great to aim big but it isn't required to hold assets.

 

[Eric Lyon]

I can't speak for UK sole trade or limited company ventures, but I would imagine it's similar to other countries.

In the U.S., after making the mistake going sole trade/proprietor and damaging my personal assets when the business assets tanked, I came back with an LLC (Limited Liability Company) to separate my personal assets from my business assets. That way, if something were to happen again, my personal assets would be safe. It also allowed me to claim a few more tax breaks/deductions, as well as start a completely separate credit file so that my personal credit file wasn't dinged anymore with hard pulls seeking new credit lines.

There are other reasons some may choose to go the LLC route, but the above was my primary deciding factors.

I know you guys have to deal with VAT, which I don't, but I would imagine, other than that, it's at least somewhat similar of a system.

To each their own.