[drevitt]

hi all

this is my first year doing my tax return and I know about claiming for fuel, van, system etc. I paid £ 5k for a round too, can this also be claimed for, if so do i just need to keep the receipt from guy i bought it from.
thanks

[bad trippy]

yep

[leapstallbuildings]

hi all

this is my first year doing my tax return and I know about claiming for fuel, van, system etc. I paid £ 5k for a round too, can this also be claimed for, if so do i just need to keep the receipt from guy i bought it from.
thanks

Apparently this is not tax deductible as it is "good will".  Maybe if it were a canvassing/marketing fee that would be allowed though.

[martinsadie]

according to my accountent 5 years ago ,the answer is no

[DaveG]

hi all

this is my first year doing my tax return and I know about claiming for fuel, van, system etc. I paid £ 5k for a round too, can this also be claimed for, if so do i just need to keep the receipt from guy i bought it from.
thanks

Apparently this is not tax deductible as it is "good will".  Maybe if it were a canvassing/marketing fee that would be allowed though.

I think youre right mate, but you can definately claim for canvassing costs

[drevitt]

can it be adjusted to claim for do you think ?

[martinsadie]

can it be adjusted to claim for do you think ?

look on the bright side if you cant claim now ,dont pay any tax when you sell 

[Dave Turley]

I sold some work recently and my accountant said the buyer can put the cost through the business, as the rules have changed fairly recently.

the great thing is, if you are the seller, the income is classed as capital gains, so you don't have to pay tax on it til you reac £10100!

[davids3511]

Jeez guys, every time this question is asked the same answer is given - No you can't claim. YES YOU CAN!!! It changed about 2 years ago and once the transaction is at 'arms length' ie not your mam, it is tax deductable.

I would hate to think some newby takes this site as gospel and gifts the tax man thousands in unnecessary tax.

[martinsadie]

Jeez guys, every time this question is asked the same answer is given - No you can't claim. YES YOU CAN!!! It changed about 2 years ago and once the transaction is at 'arms length' ie not your mam, it is tax deductable.

I would hate to think some newby takes this site as gospel and gifts the tax man thousands in unnecessary tax.

no need to get your knickers in a twist at the end of the day the person who is asking only has to go and see an accountent,old window cleaners have no need to keep up with the changes as we dont buy work anymore

[davids3511]

Not in a twist at all, just hate to see bad info passed on again and again and again, especially when money and the tax man is involved.

Not everybody sees an accountant when they start up, otherwise there wouldn't be a problem. Also, whether they can claim back or not may have a large impact on whether they decide to do it at all or not. Bad info and they might decide not to bother.

As for 'old window cleaners have no need to keep up with the changes as we dont buy work anymore', if their info is out of date then they should either not post a reply or update their knowledge.

[leapstallbuildings]

Not in a twist at all, just hate to see bad info passed on again and again and again, especially when money and the tax man is involved.

Not everybody sees an accountant when they start up, otherwise there wouldn't be a problem. Also, whether they can claim back or not may have a large impact on whether they decide to do it at all or not. Bad info and they might decide not to bother.

As for 'old window cleaners have no need to keep up with the changes as we dont buy work anymore', if their info is out of date then they should either not post a reply or update their knowledge.

Bit harsh really.
If someone posts on a window cleaning forum asking for advice about window cleaning, it's reasonable to expect fairly accurate answers.  If someone posts on a window cleaning forum asking about accountancy issues, it's also reasonable to check those answers with a qualified accountant (or ask on an accountancy forum).
I asked my accountant this very same question - about two years ago as it happens.  I simply repeated part of the answer that he gave me.  So what am I supposed to do - check every change in fields of work other than my own.
I keep reasonably well abreast of changes in window cleaning methods/safety regs etc.
I wouldn't expect myt accountant to keep up with window cleaning issues though.
I think that part of your response was pretty unreasonable considering the attempts to help.
It's only common sense to check any non window cleaning answer on here with a suitably qualified pro.

EDITED TO ADD:  BTW, thanks for supplying the new info.  It may not sound like it but I do appreciate it   

[Sean Dyer]

hi all

this is my first year doing my tax return and I know about claiming for fuel, van, system etc. I paid £ 5k for a round too, can this also be claimed for, if so do i just need to keep the receipt from guy i bought it from.
thanks

Apparently this is not tax deductible as it is "good will".  Maybe if it were a canvassing/marketing fee that would be allowed though.

put it down as marketing cost , easy peasy

At the end of the day thats what they did isnt it to build in first place

Dont pay tax on money for a round!!

Although as been said if you sell dont ay tax, but im sure you will have too !!

[ronnie paton]

if you sellyour business you will have to pay capitol gains tax i think so i guess it would be the same has if you sell part of your business.

this is obviosly if you are 100% legal

[Window Washers]

Not in a twist at all, just hate to see bad info passed on again and again and again, especially when money and the tax man is involved.

Not everybody sees an accountant when they start up, otherwise there wouldn't be a problem. Also, whether they can claim back or not may have a large impact on whether they decide to do it at all or not. Bad info and they might decide not to bother.

As for 'old window cleaners have no need to keep up with the changes as we dont buy work anymore', if their info is out of date then they should either not post a reply or update their knowledge.

Bit harsh really.
If someone posts on a window cleaning forum asking for advice about window cleaning, it's reasonable to expect fairly accurate answers.  If someone posts on a window cleaning forum asking about accountancy issues, it's also reasonable to check those answers with a qualified accountant (or ask on an accountancy forum).
I asked my accountant this very same question - about two years ago as it happens.  I simply repeated part of the answer that he gave me.  So what am I supposed to do - check every change in fields of work other than my own.
I keep reasonably well abreast of changes in window cleaning methods/safety regs etc.
I wouldn't expect myt accountant to keep up with window cleaning issues though.
I think that part of your response was pretty unreasonable considering the attempts to help.
It's only common sense to check any non window cleaning answer on here with a suitably qualified pro.

EDITED TO ADD:  BTW, thanks for supplying the new info.  It may not sound like it but I do appreciate it   

I will add to this, not all the info that is given for window cleaning is in anyway true, what you read on here has to be taken with judgement on if it is right or wrong, I read loads and think the poster is talking out of there backside.

If you need to ask anything about things that really matter in regards to what you can claim for, read on here then ask an accountant, not anyone I know on here is one.

And there are many new window cleaners on here that think they have done it all yet have done not alot..

[mark dew]

Apart from going self employed in the 1st place, the best business the original poster will ever do each year is to spend some cash on an accountant.
Unless anyone is earning under the tax threshold, an accountant is a must investmnent.

[Ian Rochester]

Mark,

Couldn't agree more, regardless of the size of your business get a professional accountant to submit your tax returns for you, costs very little, used to cost £150 for us before we went Ltd and VAT registered and he saved us a heck of a lot more than he cost us.

[leapstallbuildings]

Mark,

Couldn't agree more, regardless of the size of your business get a professional accountant to submit your tax returns for you, costs very little, used to cost £150 for us before we went Ltd and VAT registered and he saved us a heck of a lot more than he cost us.

"Get an accountant" was the first bit of advice I got when I was starting out in self-employment.  This was from another self-employed person (she had a small driving tuition school).  I didn't bother at first because I was skint and was busy canvassing.  I had the intention of simply popping into the tax office to get a returns form in the early April and booking an appointment to help me fill it in.  I kept a record of income in a notebook and my receipts.
Anyway, after a while, I started to get bits of paper through the post that I didn't understand.  That was when I went to see an accountant.  Shortly after that, I got a letter from the tax office to go in to "discuss my tax affairs".  By the time I got there a couple of weeks later my accountant had registered my business and I took a sample of a worklist and some receipts.  The investigator wasn't interested though.  She listened to what I had to say about my situation and immediately stated that she was not going to look any further as I was now going about things the correct way.
I think what triggered this was that when I signed off the dole, I put "self-employed" as my new job but that didn't tally with the fact that I hadn't registered a business (I didn't know you were meant to).  In those days there were no penalties for not registering within a certain time.
Although the unemployment office and the tax office were not supposed to share info back then, it's pretty obvious that they did (and broke the law in doing so).  I wasn't bothered as I never had any intention of being part of a hidden black economy.

[HIGH LEVEL WINDOW CLEANERS (scrimmy)]

i bought a round of drinks once.

never claimed for it though.. didnt know i could

[ccmids]

if your not sure i would get a accountent.