The tax and paperwork side

You need a UTR, and it is free

A UTR is a ten-digit Unique Taxpayer Reference. If you have ever filed a Self Assessment return you already have one, on any letter HMRC has sent you about it. If you have not, you register as self-employed on gov.uk and one arrives in the post within about ten days.

We cannot pay you without it, and the reason is not bureaucratic: the statement we produce is a VAT invoice raised in your name, and an invoice without the supplier’s tax reference is not a valid document. A payout with no UTR on file is held rather than paid.

Self-billing means we do the invoicing

Normally a supplier invoices their customer. Under a self-billing agreement, which you sign when you join, we raise the invoice on your behalf and pay against it. You do not have to write us an invoice each month, and you do not have to chase one.

Every payment comes with that statement: a numbered self-billed invoice listing every customer, what they paid, your band, the rate applied and the VAT position. It is emailed to you with the payment and it is downloadable from your portal for as long as you are a partner. That is the document your accountant wants.

HMRC sets conditions for self-billing, and one of them falls on you: if your VAT registration status changes, tell us. The invoices we raise in your name have to be right.

VAT, if it applies to you

If you are VAT registered, we add VAT to your commission and pay you the VAT-inclusive figure. You remit it; we reclaim it. Net cost to you, nil.

If you are not registered, we pay the figure without VAT and there is nothing to do. You are not obliged to register until your turnover crosses the threshold, and commission counts towards it.

What you actually file

One Self Assessment return a year, by 31 January for the tax year that ended the previous 5 April. Your commission statements are the record of income.

You can deduct the ordinary costs of the work: mileage, phone, a laptop, professional insurance. We are not your accountant and this is not tax advice. A bookkeeper for a sole trader costs a few hundred pounds a year and earns it back in the first one.

You are outside CIS. The Construction Industry Scheme covers construction operations, and selling software is not one, so nothing is deducted at source.

Questions people ask

Am I employed by Estimark?

No. Partners are self-employed and commission-only: no minimum hours, no activity targets, no compulsory meetings, no exclusivity. You may represent non-competing products, use your own equipment and send a substitute. The agreement says all of this in terms.

Do I need insurance?

No. We do not ask you to hold any particular cover to sell Estimark. Whether your own business carries insurance is your decision and your cost, like any other business you run.

What if I am already VAT registered?

Give us the number during onboarding and every statement from then on carries VAT correctly. If you register later, tell us. The invoices are raised in your name, so getting it wrong is your VAT position as well as ours.

Does the money come from Estimark or from Stripe?

From us, through Stripe. Your bank details are held by Stripe rather than by us (we never see them) and the transfer lands in the account you set up with them. Stripe also runs the identity checks, so that step of onboarding asks for a photo of your ID.