Husqy 435 chainsaw

[oldclaypaws]

I just enquired genuinely about buying a Stihl 880, which according to many is the most powerful production chainsaw in the world, referred to for extra butch quality as the 'Stihl Magnum'. (Are you feeling lucky, punk?) Its 122cc. I have a degree of experience using medium sized saws now, plus am having taster sessions in using chainsaw mills from experienced users, which is safer activity than felling. I'm not going to fell big stuff, the pros can do that, I'm just milling.

One question I asked was is it necessary to show certification before buying one, as its a pretty potentially lethal bit of kit, which I have respect for and trepidation about using. The salesman replied with a degree of exasperation, "At least you have some experience and are using it for milling, we have people walk in and buy them with a 48" bar who have no experience at all, proposing to use them for felling big stuff after watching a couple of videos." That's a bit scary.

[outeredge]

smojo have you considered the 550xp, I bought it as my first saw a few months ago and am extremely pleased with it.

It also gets the thumbs up from a lot of pros, my trainer in fact was jealous!

Got it from FR Jones ~£450 + vat delivered.

[smojo]

smojo have you considered the 550xp, Got it from FR Jones ~£450 + vat delivered.

Ta, yes it looks nice, a tad over my budget but it ain't over till the fat forester sings

[Wendelspanswick]

Have you thought about running your wood as a business? That way you could claim against tax for your outgoings, chainsaw/PPE/hand tools as well as claiming mileage to and from your wood.
You just need to generate an income from the wood, firewood and charcoal spring to mind or green wood furniture.
You don't have to make a profit for a few years and you can even offset losses against PAYE paid in the past and get a tax refund!

[Dexter's Shed]

Have you thought about running your wood as a business? That way you could claim against tax for your outgoings, chainsaw/PPE/hand tools as well as claiming mileage to and from your wood.
You just need to generate an income from the wood, firewood and charcoal spring to mind or green wood furniture.
You don't have to make a profit for a few years and you can even offset losses against PAYE paid in the past and get a tax refund!

does it have to be wood?
what about my bees?
can you work as an employee, yet still run a business on the side?
sounds interesting

[ballibeg]

Have you thought about running your wood as a business? That way you could claim against tax for your outgoings, chainsaw/PPE/hand tools as well as claiming mileage to and from your wood.
You just need to generate an income from the wood, firewood and charcoal spring to mind or green wood furniture.
You don't have to make a profit for a few years and you can even offset losses against PAYE paid in the past and get a tax refund!

does it have to be wood?
what about my bees?
can you work as an employee, yet still run a business on the side?
sounds interesting

Yes you can. If you're dealing firewood get VAT registered ad you can claim back the 20% on inputs whilst selling firewood with only 5%.

Beware the hobby farm rule. You must make a profit every 5th year our the tax man will be all over you.

Dave

[oldclaypaws]

I think the topic of running a small business from a wood should be a seperate thread. A couple of points worth considering are that I believe raw timber sales aren't taxable, whereas finished items with value added like green furniture or honey would be. If its a modest amount then it would be considered a hobby. It would only be worth doing if you were likely to be making a significant income from either a service like offering courses or selling finished manufactured items and wanting to reduce your tax liability by recovering costs, a net income which in theory you should be declaring. Modest sales of your own firewood arent taxable I believe, whereas if you were buying the timber from others, chopping and selling it in volume as a full time business, it would be.

In my case if successful in selling some timber and some crafts, I'll have to split the two into non taxable timber and taxable crafts, a bit of a poser when apportioning the costs.

[smojo]

[url]A couple of points worth considering are that I believe raw timber sales aren't taxable, whereas finished items with value added like green furniture or honey would be.[/url]

Yes that's my understanding too. running a business from it would have appealed at one time but now I just want to keep things as simple as possible. The odd firewood or hazel rods for sale for pocket money would be good but once you start trying to outsmart the taxman and having to do all the paperwork stuff and the pressure of meeting deadlines etc. it starts to get boring. Spent most of my working life bored, now I've escaped I just want it to be fun even if it's hard physical work.

[Wendelspanswick]

As I understand it you have a choice with timber sales, you either do not declare it as it is tax exempt but that also means you cannot claim expenses or you can declare it and claim your normal expenses in its production.

[oldclaypaws]

As I understand it you have a choice with timber sales, you either do not declare it as it is tax exempt but that also means you cannot claim expenses or you can declare it and claim your normal expenses in its production.

.....which would seem to say you either don't declare the gross non taxable amount, or declare a lesser non taxable amount, result in both cases; no tax. Seems rather pointless recording and reporting timber costs and sales unless you want to meticulously reveal all your expenditure and income to be seen to be completely transparent, as a large estate might.