I'm looking to make an iOS app over the next weeks and months and had a couple of questions. I am based in England and will be sole trader. I had a looks on the DUNS number website and I couldn't see anything listed for sole traders. I'll also register to be VAT registered does the Apple Developer programme support sole traders who are VAT registered in the UK?
If any more information is required then let me know and I'll reply.
I don't know what is exactly sole trader status.
Have you a registered company (likely if you have VAT number) ? If so, you can get a DUNS number.
Otherwise, you can publish on the appstore as an individual.
A sole trader in the UK is a type of business that is not a registered limited company. For example a limited company is a legal entity in its own right and is separate from the directors and shareholders. A sole trader is just the person trading as themselves.
Sole traders can also be VAT registered.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sole_proprietorship
Thank you for the reply. I'll have a look. My main query is whether you can supply a VAT number on an individual account as individuals can be VAT registered in the UK.
does the Apple Developer programme support sole traders who are VAT registered in the UK?
Yes, but with one proviso: you cannot use a "doing-business-as" pseudonym. I.e. if your name is actually John Smith but you like to refer to your business activity as Cromulent Enterprises, then tough; Apple will refer to you as John Smith throughout the app store.
I was a (UK) sole trader when I first started selling apps, and I actually started a limited company in large part in order to get a more corporate name in app store listings. Of course as soon as I did that, Apple de-emphasised the business name in the app store listings; previously they were shown more prominently alongside app names.
Being a one-person limited company involves a bit of bureaucracy, i.e. PAYE - it's more work than being VAT-registered, for example - and you have to pay employer's National Insurance, unless you have a second employee. Think twice (get advice) before doing it.
DUNS numbers are not required for non-company enrolment.
Note that in the US, they have a concept called "disregarded entities" - as I understand it, you can create a company which is sufficiently real that it gets a DUNS number and can register with Apple as a business, but it is "disregarded" for tax purposes, i.e. you are a sole trader as far as tax is concerned. It may be that this is the reason why UK sole traders are not handled quite as you might like.
VAT registration or not doesn't change anything.
(Disclaimer: I've been a limited company since 2018, things could have changed.)
My main query is whether you can supply a VAT number on an individual account
Just to address that - your sales are to Apple Ireland, i.e. they are international. So no VAT is involved. You do not need to tell Apple your VAT number, nor they tell you theirs.
(People often get confused by this!)