Tax return blues - would a bit of solidarity help?

[wayward bob]

can i just double check - the returns due this jan are for the financial year 2014-15? so having registered as a sole trader in october means i don't have to do one this year?

 

[Maurice Picarda]

can i just double check - the returns due this jan are for the financial year 2014-15? so having registered as a sole trader in october means i don't have to do one this year?

Yep, unless you earned over £100k in 14/15 or had non-PAYE income.

 

[wayward bob]

hahahahahahahaha. no

 

[SpookyFrank]

can i just double check - the returns due this jan are for the financial year 2014-15? so having registered as a sole trader in october means i don't have to do one this year?

Correct. Your return for this year (ending April somethingth 2016) will be due by the end of January 2017.

 

[Reno]

I've decided to try and do my self-assessment tax myself instead of getting an accountant. I'm using this software called GoSimpleTax. I can claim for stuff like travel as a self employed person. Do I really need a receipt to claim expenses or is it alright if it says in my bank statement "£32 to London Underground" ?

Also, can I claim my mortgage payments for use of home as office ? It has something to claim for rent, but not for mortgage in the expenses section.

This is supposed to be child's play, but it's more complicated than they say.

 

[Maurice Picarda]

Are you a limited company or a sole trader? If the latter, your accounts can be a bit vaguer. If the former, expenses accounting needs to be incredibly scrupulous.

 

[Reno]

Are you a limited company or a sole trader?

I'm a sole trader.

 

[Maurice Picarda]

The bank statement is fine, it evidences that there was a legitimate expense. The use of home as office and adjusting profits accordingly is complicated, it's affected by how much travel away from the office you're also claiming for! An accountant's advice on that sort of thing is often helpful.

 

[Reno]

The bank statement is fine, it evidences that there was a legitimate expense. The use of home as office and adjusting profits accordingly is complicated, it's affected by how much travel away from the office you're also claiming for! An accountant's advice on that sort of thing is often helpful.

My accountant is crap and never replies to my emails. I've never actually met him. As I'm trying to do this without him I don't think he'll be keen to help

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

I've decided to try and do my self-assessment tax myself instead of getting an accountant. I'm using this software called GoSimpleTax. I can claim for stuff like travel as a self employed person. Do I really need a receipt to claim expenses or is it alright if it says in my bank statement "£32 to London Underground" ?

Also, can I claim my mortgage payments for use of home as office ? It has something to claim for rent, but not for mortgage in the expenses section.

This is supposed to be child's play, but it's more complicated than they say.

If your travel is to a regular place of work for one freelance job, then technically you can't claim. If you make a one off journey then you can. The home office is something you can claim for, heating etc too. I personally never bother.

 

[Pingu]

I've decided to try and do my self-assessment tax myself instead of getting an accountant. I'm using this software called GoSimpleTax. I can claim for stuff like travel as a self employed person. Do I really need a receipt to claim expenses or is it alright if it says in my bank statement "£32 to London Underground" ?

Also, can I claim my mortgage payments for use of home as office ? It has something to claim for rent, but not for mortgage in the expenses section.

This is supposed to be child's play, but it's more complicated than they say.

that really is much much easier but any idea how its viewed by HMRC?

 

[8115]

I've decided to try and do my self-assessment tax myself instead of getting an accountant. I'm using this software called GoSimpleTax. I can claim for stuff like travel as a self employed person. Do I really need a receipt to claim expenses or is it alright if it says in my bank statement "£32 to London Underground" ?

Also, can I claim my mortgage payments for use of home as office ? It has something to claim for rent, but not for mortgage in the expenses section.

This is supposed to be child's play, but it's more complicated than they say.

I think you can claim a part of your mortgage payments, not sure what percentage. If you buy something, say a computer, you can only claim for 10% each year or something. I'm not an accountant.

Look at the notes on the online form, they're actually pretty simply written.

 

[8115]

I think I'm going to do mine next Monday.

 

[Pingu]

over and above the simplicity it will have a fairly big advantage for those with ... flexible... expenses. I know HMRC use software that captures a web session*. so they can find out if you alter figures prior to submission to ..erm.. minimise your tax liability

*software like speedtrap (now celebrus) can track all sorts of web activity such as where figures have been entered and then altered, where mouse hovers occur and loads of other stuff. HMRC are a customer. i know this as i was involved in the project that set up the analytics side of things

 

[Reno]

I've given up on doing this myself and sent my paperwork to my accountant. Maybe next year I'll get the hang of It.

 

[porp]

Reno. Maybe next year you can think about using HMRC's approved simplified expenses scheme for the self employed? This would at least help with your home office claim
Simplified expenses if you're self-employed - GOV.UK

 

[crossthebreeze]

Aaargh why did I leave this till now? At least i haven't forgotton my username or password this year though.

 

[crossthebreeze]

Aaaand after a panic about bus tickets and a bit of confusion about uniform, (i bet that never happens at Google) its submitted!

 

[High Voltage]

Got mine done a couple of weeks ago - then 2 or 3 days after submitting I got a "dreaded brown envelope" from HMRC - gulp!1!1!!1

Well, the good news is that according them I won't have to do an on-line tax return next year - unless my circumstances change

HOORAY!!!!

But

My circumstances have changed, I changed my job and I've now got a company car, so the whole dread process will start all over again next year

Boo!!!!

 

[neonwilderness]

I was vaguely organised last year and did mine in September.

Just about to pay the balance now. This year they seem to have decided to email/text me a reminder every few days

 

[lazythursday]

Just about done it. Like every year had a mad panic at the end when it shows a massive amount of tax due only to realise after a few minutes that the stupid system is ignoring the payments on account already made for the year. And why every single year do I get a whole load of initially worrying screens about my PAYE code being adjusted to reclaim unpaid tax of... £0.00? Anyway done and dusted apart from actually doing the bank transfer.

 

[iamwithnail]

Apparently I still owed them £2.40 from last year? And £1.20 this year. Oh well. Took about an hour in the end.

 

[TikkiB]

There's a lot to be said for being a penniless student: the tax return is a doddle.

 

[Cloo]

Getting going on this. Haven't done mine for years, as until last year's I still had some rental income so I had accountants do it, but it really isn't worth it now.

It looked as though I had lost my P60 or the password I needed to access my P60 form for 15-16, and I was in the process of writing a grovelling letter to head of payroll when I tried one last search and found the password email. I didn’t think I could have lost it, I’m quite organised about these things and I was sure I’d have either kept the password and/or printed off the P60 and filed it in my usual place.

It should be simple to do the return, but after going through the faff to recover my HMRC login (given the accountants have been handling it), it seems the standard self assessment software doesn’t cover income from Trusts, and I got some last year (albeit a one-off), so I’ll have to download some extra software – urgh. Although I also got paperwork saying the tax has been paid on it... but I am sure it has to be mentioned even so. Meh.

 

[lazythursday]

Getting going on this. Haven't done mine for years, as until last year's I still had some rental income so I had accountants do it, but it really isn't worth it now.

It looked as though I had lost my P60 or the password I needed to access my P60 form for 15-16, and I was in the process of writing a grovelling letter to head of payroll when I tried one last search and found the password email. I didn’t think I could have lost it, I’m quite organised about these things and I was sure I’d have either kept the password and/or printed off the P60 and filed it in my usual place.

It should be simple to do the return, but after going through the faff to recover my HMRC login (given the accountants have been handling it), it seems the standard self assessment software doesn’t cover income from Trusts, and I got some last year (albeit a one-off), so I’ll have to download some extra software – urgh. Although I also got paperwork saying the tax has been paid on it... but I am sure it has to be mentioned even so. Meh.

Doing a tax return in August? Frankly this seems bizarre, like having a barbecue in November. The traditional time is January, preferably about the 30th, in that special altered state that only last minute panic can induce.

 

[Cloo]

That's my husband's version, after saying he'll do it since September. He's started talking about doing it (he was going to start yesterday but didn't), so we'll see.

We're going to embark in massive building work before the end of the year, hence me wanting it out of the way now.

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

Impressive. I too like to leave mine until the end of January despite having the perfect lull in work to get on with it now.

 

[bi0boy]

Got to do my first ever ltd company annual return by the end of next month. No idea what they are but who needs an accountant when you've got Google?

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

Got to do my first ever ltd company annual return by the end of next month. No idea what they are but who needs an accountant when you've got Google?

I use an accountant, he charges £600 to do the company returns plus my personal returns. Do the monthly payroll/PAYE & VAT ourselves though. That £600 is money well spent, although my guy was defrocked or whatever happens when chartered accountants go to jail, his work is still tip-top and pleases the eyes of HMRC's inspectors so much that they feel no need to inspect. Which is nice.

 

[bi0boy]

I was thinking that by the time I've got in order all the information an accountant would need to begin their work I'm basically more than half way there, so I should probably just carry on and do it myself online. That way I know where I'm at rather than being one of those people who end up saying "well, my accountant told me that...."

It's not like my company has lots of transactions or assets or debts or anything anyway, so it can't be too hard. My personal returns have always been a piece of piss tbh. If I ever have to register for VAT though I'll probably think again.