Developing for the iPhone

[cronk-flakes]

Hi there,

I recently switched to iPhone development and I'm about 85% finished with my first project.

My question is, what are the tax implications of selling an iPhone app via the App Store? I'm just an individual doing it in my spare time and by day I am a data encryption nerd, so just on regular PAYE at the moment.

I'd assume that there would be tax deductible on any money that was made via App Store sales, I'm just unsure as to the rules!

Any pointers would be great!



ETA: Not sure if this is in the right place, so Mods, feel free to move appropriately!

Edited by cronk-flakes on Tuesday 14th September 16:30

[Republik]

Out of interest, how hard is the developing process? Its something I'm quite interested in doing.

[AyBee]

Republik said:

Out of interest, how hard is the developing process? Its something I'm quite interested in doing.

Would also be interested in the process if you could spare some time please

[ic0n]

Learn Objective-C, get a Mac, install X-Code and play.

[cronk-flakes]

As ic0n mentions, you will need a Mac for best results.

There are plenty of articles out there willing to help. I find the O'Reilly media really helpful. Not only that, but there is a plethora of YouTube content that really helps.

I find the best way to learn is to hit some tutorials and then read about anything that you've covered that you didn't fully understand in the tutorial. It's a bit daunting at first, but some of the practices really make sense after a while.

Once you get going, I'd be happy to try and help with any parts that you are unsure on! But also, a great website to be a part of is iphone Dev SDK.

http://www.iphonedevsdk.com/forum/iphone-sdk-devel...

Best of luck!

[andrewh]

Its pretty hard these days though as there are over 200K apps on the store nowadays, you also have to think about how your going to advertise the app, Apple take 40% of the revenue too.

Theres a documentary about the process on cnbc that repeats every few weeks, there are some companies in the states that will take on your ideas if you dont have the skills to make your own apps, less financial risk, as one company is still waiting for approvals (some kind of seccond phone line app) after many months.

Edited by andrewh on Wednesday 15th September 15:32

[DonkeyApple]

Who are the leading corporate developers in the UK?

[onomatopoeia]

ic0n said:

Learn Objective-C, get a Mac, install X-Code and play.

and pay apple for a developer licence (it's not called that) if you want to test your app on your phone instead of the simulator. If the app uses the phone hardware (e.g. GPS or accelerometers) it is rather difficult to test otherwise.

If you let the licence lapse the app on your phone won't work either.

I got so annoyed with OSX, with ObjC and xcode that I gave up, flattened my Mac and put W7 on it. No dual boot / boot camp. Just W7.

[was8v]

You would have to declare income on a tax return. You will probably be a sole trader and you will need to keep accounts etc. Google "sole trader" for more. (no need to tell your employer at all...)

Any expense can be offset and you pay tax on the profit, e.g. developer program subscription, buying the mac, portion of eleccy bill etc so long as they are used exclusively for trading activity.


I've just got my first (free) app in the store.

iPhone apps need to be approved by apple before they go into the app store, take 7-14 days. They can refuse for any obscure reason - you could spend $$$$ developing the app and it could be turned down flat.

Apple take a third of any takings and only pay you when takings reach a certain figure.



Good luck I know a few people who have made a few quid out of bizarre apps you wouldn't think anyone would buy....

Edited by was8v on Wednesday 15th September 17:00

[cronk-flakes]

was8v said:

You would have to declare income on a tax return. You will probably be a sole trader and you will need to keep accounts etc. Google "sole trader" for more. (no need to tell your employer at all...)

Any expense can be offset and you pay tax on the profit, e.g. developer program subscription, buying the mac, portion of eleccy bill etc so long as they are used exclusively for trading activity.


I've just got my first (free) app in the store.

iPhone apps need to be approved by apple before they go into the app store, take 7-14 days. They can refuse for any obscure reason - you could spend $$$$ developing the app and it could be turned down flat.

Apple take a third of any takings and only pay you when takings reach a certain figure.



Good luck I know a few people who have made a few quid out of bizarre apps you wouldn't think anyone would buy...

Thanks for the info, I'll take it from there and do some further research.

Yeah - the submission process can be a bh. Should be made easier with the recent release of the rejection guidelines.

Thanks again, chap!