Working for yourself: sole trader basics

If you trade under any name other than your own surname (with or without your first names or initials), you must register the business name within 14 days of starting, under the Registration of Business Names Act, Chap. 82:85. Registration is with the Companies Registry.

• Register for a BIR file number
• Pay income tax in quarterly instalments at the end of March, June, September and December, based on last year's chargeable income
• File your return and final accounts by 30 April
• Business Levy: 0.6% of gross sales, paid quarterly. You do not pay it in your first three years of registration, if last year's sales were TT$360,000 or less, or if employment income is more than 75% of your total income
• Sole traders do not pay the Green Fund Levy
• Health Surcharge: TT$8.25 a week, or TT$4.80 where monthly receipts average TT$469.99 or less
• Register for VAT once your sales exceed TT$600,000 in 12 months

NIS does not yet cover self-employed people. The NIB has proposed bringing them into the system, but the law has not been changed.

The NIB's voluntary contributions option is for insured people who are unemployed, not for the self-employed. To use it, you must:

• be between 16 and 60
• apply within 18 months of leaving insurable employment, using form NI6, at an NIB Service Centre

Voluntary contributions only protect your Retirement Benefit, Survivors' Benefit and Funeral Grant. They do not cover sickness, maternity or injury benefits.

Before you leave a job to work for yourself, check your contribution record with the NIB so you know where you stand.

NIB Voluntary Contributions

• Use a written contract for every client
• Invoice promptly and keep records for every sale and expense
• Consider your own insurance, since no employer covers you