[williamx]

The tax offices computer picks at ramdon thousands and thousands of business for a closer look at their accounts, so remember it could be you, and they go back 6 years so kept them records or you are in big Doo Doo. 

No you won't be. Not unless they can prove you wrong.
Which they won't be able to.

Domestic work cash in hand is untraceable.

True domestic work is mainly cash and therefore almost impossable to kept tract of, but the tax man gets around this by checking, every major purchase and holiday you have had for the last 6 years and how it was paid for, they will already know how much you say you have earnt and if they find one thing thats doesn't tally then they will assume you are fiddling and they will instead say you have earnt this amount and its now up to you to disprove them.

Don't forget there are many thousands of window cleaners who send their tax returns in every year, by looking at these figures, the tax man know how much we all earn each year.

[Sir Squeaky]

Don't forget there are many thousands of window cleaners who send their tax returns in every year, by looking at these figures, the tax man know how much we all earn each year.

Well they can't be very bright then.
All professions vary massively.
We've already established on this forum that some make £200-300 a week, while others make around £1000.

I only work 3 days a week at the moment.
How can I earn what an expensive cleaner in an expensive area does on a 5 day week?

There's no way they know anything about me or anyone else.
After the way I was mislead and ripped off last time, I won't be doing the b*stards any favours.

Sorry, I just hate them.

[Paul Coleman]

I wouldn't be surprised if my next lot of accounts are queried even though they are legit (as they always are).  I have shown close to the same turnover as the previous year but with much higher expenditure.  This was the setup costs of WFP.
One thing my accountant did tell me is if you are putting in a set of accounts that look odd because of a particular reason, write a letter with the accounts to briefly explain the situation.  If you put them in without the brief explanation, you stand much more chance of getting investigated.
For instance, I had trouble working for a few months several years ago due to illness.  I gave my accountant a letter with brief explanation saying that if they wanted more details to contact me.  They never did.  My turnover (and profit)was way down on the previous year as you would expect in such a situation.  Obviously I don't know if they would have selected me for investigation without that letter but it may well have helped.  In the accounts that I will be submitting soon, I made a big investment in WFP equipment and a van and also lost my two biggest customers.  My expenses are way high but all perfectly correct.  I paid out a fair bit in interest on the loans for the van and equipment too which is all tax deductible (the van being subject to apportionment as there is a bit of personal use).

[williamx]

Don't forget there are many thousands of window cleaners who send their tax returns in every year, by looking at these figures, the tax man know how much we all earn each year.

Well they can't be very bright then.
All professions vary massively.
We've already established on this forum that some make £200-300 a week, while others make around £1000.

I only work 3 days a week at the moment.
How can I earn what an expensive cleaner in an expensive area does on a 5 day week?

There's no way they know anything about me or anyone else.
After the way I was mislead and ripped off last time, I won't be doing the b*stards any favours.

Sorry, I just hate them.

Every sane person hates paying tax, buts its a nessasary evil we have to live with.

All I would say to anyone who is creative with their taxes is be aware.

Window cleaning is our proffession and we have all learnt over time how to to it correctly, the tax man is also a proffessional who has vast resources to draw on to catch us.

They know that everyone who is handling cash will not declare every penny, the odd fiver or tenner here and now is easy to disappear, buts its when you start to get greedy, then you get caught out, ask Al Capone and Robert Maxwell.

If they can be caught with their resources, what chance do we have.

The main problem with window cleaners is we all have regular customers who go on a list which the tax man will cross check with, so when they are following you and you kept cleaning houses that are not on that list, expect a few questions.

[Bertie Boo]

I really cant justify the expense of an accountant when its actually fairly simple.

Its only simple if you know what you are doing. I dont 

stephen

[williamx]

I really cant justify the expense of an accountant when its actually fairly simple.

Its only simple if you know what you are doing. I dont 

stephen

Go on a course that the tax man offer for free, then you will know how to do it.

[Bertie Boo]

I really cant justify the expense of an accountant when its actually fairly simple.

Its only simple if you know what you are doing. I dont 

stephen

Go on a course that the tax man offer for free, then you will know how to do it.

No, i think you are missing the point. My maths and head for figures is terrible.

Stephen

[windowwashers]

as far as I am aware all accounts are done via a computer your tax return is scan and fed to a computer if it finds something wrong it chucks it back and they then look into it, they hand pick people to investigate, as long as you are doing no wrong then there is nothing to worry about, an accountant can save you money, even the people that do thier books themselves could still save money. This is one of the reasons I use one, the other is I hate doing books, every thing goes in my bank, and is paid out from there this way I have clear records of everything. the letter in regards to an explination is a good idea as the computer my kick out the abnormalities (spelt wrong) and a letter they can read and understand.

[williamx]

I really cant justify the expense of an accountant when its actually fairly simple.

Its only simple if you know what you are doing. I dont 

stephen

Go on a course that the tax man offer for free, then you will know how to do it.

No, i think you are missing the point. My maths and head for figures is terrible.

Stephen

You don't have to be a math genius, to go on one of these courses, what they cover is your tax return form, what figure needs to go in which box, the tax return form tells you what to do with each box, so its quite easy to do.

They also tell you what you can and more importantly what you cannot claim for, as for the tax return form and working out what you need to pay in regard to nic 4 and income tax, all you need to do is fill in the form, send it off to your tax office, they will do the number crunching and then send you a bill, which you have to pay by a certain date.

If you use a accountant, he will be able to fill in this form, if you give him the correct information, but if you decide to do it yourself, you can always contact them on 0845 302 1437, they are willing to go step by step in filling in the form correctly.

[d s cleaning]

I have a good head for figures but the way I look at it is simple,tax returns is an accountants job not mine,I cant be bothered with it,all my figures are above bourd so I have nothing to worry about,and the best bit is the £180 he charges me comes off me profit as it is an expence so why the hell should I bother to do it myself.

[Bertie Boo]

I have a good head for figures but the way I look at it is simple,tax returns is an accountants job not mine,I cant be bothered with it,all my figures are above bourd so I have nothing to worry about,and the best bit is the £180 he charges me comes off me profit as it is an expence so why the hell should I bother to do it myself.

Well quite. My clients have cleaners (me, obviously), they have window cleaners, help with the ironing etc etc etc so i think
'so-d it, i'll have help with me books if it's the only help i have'

[williamx]

I have a good head for figures but the way I look at it is simple,tax returns is an accountants job not mine,I cant be bothered with it,all my figures are above bourd so I have nothing to worry about,and the best bit is the £180 he charges me comes off me profit as it is an expence so why the hell should I bother to do it myself.

Only a percentage of it comes off your tax liability, which is £54.00 the rest, £126.00 comes off your own money after you have paid taxes.

So because you are good at figures and you could of done them yourself, but did not, you now have £126.00 less than you would have.

Or look at it another way, you charge say £8.00 per house to clean, you have now just cleaned almost 16 houses free of charge.

Remember that not all of the money you spend, comes off your tax liability, only a percentage does, the rest comes out of your bank account.

[Nathanael Jones]

There's a vast array of expenses you can claim for in business,.. and the chances are that you won't think of all of them. A good accountant will save you more on your tax bill than they will charge you in fees,... and save you a whole lot of headache and evenings spent with a stack of forms and a calculator.
If your business is small, and you have the time and capacity to do you own accounts,.. at least buy a couple of good books. Tax guides are published and reviewed yearly, and will really help with filling in those forms.

[windowwashers]

I have a good head for figures but the way I look at it is simple,tax returns is an accountants job not mine,I cant be bothered with it,all my figures are above bourd so I have nothing to worry about,and the best bit is the £180 he charges me comes off me profit as it is an expence so why the hell should I bother to do it myself.

Only a percentage of it comes off your tax liability, which is £54.00 the rest, £126.00 comes off your own money after you have paid taxes.

So because you are good at figures and you could of done them yourself, but did not, you now have £126.00 less than you would have.

Or look at it another way, you charge say £8.00 per house to clean, you have now just cleaned almost 16 houses free of charge.

Remember that not all of the money you spend, comes off your tax liability, only a percentage does, the rest comes out of your bank account.

that is true by the way, I thiught the same thing when I got an accountant, you cant claim the whole lot back, who ever informed you was wrong, I myself would clean 50 houses a year 1 a week not to do my accounts I hated it, my wife hair bill costs more than my accountant a year and I have to pay that and still get headaches, so accounts no thanks just send and pay the bill

[Village Gleam]

Using a bank account for all expenses is brilliant.

Most of you seem to be using an accountant to do a profit and loss account ( income statement is another word for it). And then fill in your return.

The info I'm working on, and I don't say copy me because others take a different view is this.

Consumables- all of it.
Computer stuff- all of it (less any personal use)
First year allowance- 40%
And then everything apart from vehicle into an asset pool at 25% in the years thereafter, added to by items that have a first year allowance and then join the rest.
Other stuff- adverts stationery etc- all of it.
Then as mentioned by others use of home- water bill- phone etc.