[lee_dewing]

I have an accountant but am thinkng doing my own self assesment.

Don't want to put all my figures out there, even though not that great

Just worried that if i do my own taxes my bill may jump up.

I use george but do not bother at present filling in all expenses in program,

I know what a dope i am :

Anyone had an accountant and then gone to doing own taxes?

did you get higher tax bills after doing yourself.
My accountant is very good at wittleing down my bill.

Worried that if i do myself taxman will come after me for extra monies from past.

Am i talking poop
Can anyone else advise me on good books on this subject.

Thanks lee.

[darren clarke]

it all depends on how simple u keep ur records and how easy it is to work out where ur money went,  a lot just get receipts and put in box and give to accountant and other keep a weekly sheet of what they spend and make,  george should make it easy for you, you just have to put the info in

[mark311069]

as you said yourself (My accountant is very good at wittleing down my bill.) so why would you want to do it yourself? my accountant charges me about £200 per year to sort my books worth every penny

[lee_dewing]

mine charges £320, and lost my reciepts last year.

Get another accountant i suppose would be the answer.

This is my third one in 10 yrs, been w/c for 5 yrs.
lee

[windiewasher]

Because I only done 2 weeks self employed last year Im doing my o.wn and hope to get a big rebate

[Lee GLS]

my accountant charges £220, which isnt bad, i send him my accounts, i get the tax return back to sign, job done, i have been with him 7 years. BUT, its not hard to do your own tax return. the hmrc do tex return workshops, which lasts 1 day, and they cover pretty much everything you need to know. Really there isnt too much that we can claim for, either van expences, or mileage, then anything else connected with the job, phone, i think you can claim £3-£5 per week for home electricity, water ect.  once you have added up you income and expences, register online on the hmrc self assesment website, fill out a couple of boxes, then they tell you how much you own them. the thought of doing it sounds worse than actually doing it.

My mum did it for my dad last year who has been employed all his life untill he retired, and his was more complicaed because it included various different pensions that had to be included on the tax return, so if she can do it anyone can. Im just too lazy to do it, but i am thinking about it next year because there isnt too much that th accountant can save you really, so i could save myself a couple of hundred each year by doing it myself

[darren clarke]

if you can prove how much water u use   u should be able to claim it all back

[AuRavelling79]

My wife does mine. I provide her with my turnover figures for each month and at year end and any cash expenses - very few just postage and small connectors and stuff.

My van lease gets counted as does all my van fuel servicing, tyres and repairs tax and insurance. All this is paid on a business account direct debit or by credit/debit card. So she just looks at the bank statement and credit card statements.

Waterproof clothing and workwear counts too and is always bought on the business credit card.

[s.hughes]

My accountant charges £400 a year, I print off monthly expenses and earnings and attach receipts in date order on each monthly sheet. He does the rest which from what I know isnt that much. He has a large business but when I call him he can recall my figures from memory just like that.
I have thought of doing it myself but am worried that if I get it wrong then it can come back on me in a few years.

[lee_dewing]

Regarding expenses i thought we could claim for running of van
i.e diesel, mot, insurance, road tax, servicing, repairs( i own my van, not lease)

then there is equipment, i'm wfp, filters, resin, poles
workwear.

mobile phone.
I could probably tott up about £4000 in expenses, unless of course what i have mentioned here is not all expenes you can claim for?

[darren clarke]

u can usually claim any business expenses

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/incometax/relief-self-emp.htm

[mileslake]

Mine charges about £85 for self assessment form online.  I give him the figures he types it in, I pay him,  takes a few minutes, easy.

[Lee GLS]

Regarding expenses i thought we could claim for running of van
i.e diesel, mot, insurance, road tax, servicing, repairs( i own my van, not lease)

then there is equipment, i'm wfp, filters, resin, poles
workwear.

mobile phone.
I could probably tott up about £4000 in expenses, unless of course what i have mentioned here is not all expenes you can claim for?

you can either claim all van expences, fuel tax, insurance, repairs ect, or claim 40p per mile for first 12,000 iles then 25p after. if you work out how many miles you do and then work out what you can claim, you might be better off doing it that way, i claim 40p per  mile and im better off than claiming van expences

[Johnny B]

I do my own, and have done for the last 10 years or so (with help from Mrs Johnny B).

Here's what I do. Each day I itemise every payment made to me on an A4 sheet. Expenses are similarly recorded on an a separate sheet and all receipts kept, in date order, in an envelope. This takes me around 10 minutes per day.

At the end of each month, all income and expenditure sheets for the month are totalled up, and the figures recorded on a separate (cumulative) sheet, which will make up the basis for my tax return. This takes 5 minutes per month.

At close of business on 5th April, the annual figures are totalled up, ready for input onto HMRC's on-line self-assessment tax return form. This takes around 15 minutes.

Complete HMRC on-line self assessment tax form and submit during April. This may take 25 minutes or so. Tax bill (due the following January) is thus known 9 months before it is due, giving maximum time to save up.

It's really simple to do, takes very little time, and saves the cost of an accountant.    

John.

 
 

[lee_dewing]

thanks all,
Good system johnny

[Londoner]

I have always used an accountant and it breaks my heart but having had years in the taxi trade I have seen too many people come to grief.

If an accountant tells the taxman you earned £x, the tax man believes him. If you tell the taxman the same thing there is no guarantee he will believe you.

There is another thing. My son went to University this year. Dealing with Student Finance was like a nightmare. They wouldn't accept my tax return as proof of my income. Only when I got a letter from my accountant on headed paper would they believe it.

[lee_dewing]

thanks Vince.

Perhaps i just need another accountant

[Johnny B]

Vince raises a good point here. I would say though, that my accounts are very detailed, ie every penny paid to me by every customer is detailed individually. I don't claim for anything that I shouldn't, and receipts are kept to support my expenses wherever possible. Therefore if I was to be subjected to a spot check or audit, I would have nothing to hide or fear. The daily/monthly accounts all tally with my tax returns.

John

 

[Dick]

I used to use an accountant but now do my own S/A. It seems daunting at first but once you do it just keep a copy and carry on each year, the only thing I think about is that HMRC may decide to want to check on my calculations but I think they can do that even if an accountant has submitted return. They apparently randomly select certain occupations etc.
Did mine online for the first time this year, got refund within 3 days rather than having to wait months. Always try to submit return in May whilst everything is fresh and then don't have to worry about it at the year end.
I had a query this year, phoned them and got a very helpful lady did a rough calculation over the phone and made a note of it so it would get recognised when assessment submitted, they seem to be customer friendly now and not an aggressive department as in the past.

[kate1]

Yes agree they are very helpful.