Tax return blues - would a bit of solidarity help?

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

And so it begins. I decided today was the day.
First of all I internally congratulate myself just for pulling out my user ID and password from a folder on a high shelf. Start tidying the kitchen and childs bedroom (what?) now I have just run myself a deep hot bath (instead of the usual shower).

As long as I log in today I will call that progress.

 

[zora]

That's definitely progress! Don't know what it is about finding the log-in details, but that seems to me like a big mental hurdle, too, and is the task I've set myself for today.

 

[billy_bob]

It's important to have realistic goals

 

[bimble]

feeling v virtuous. Almost done collecting the relevant bits of paper into folders.

 

[wayward bob]

expenditure for april - check

 

[ricbake]

And so it begins. I decided today was the day.
First of all I internally congratulate myself just for pulling out my user ID and password from a folder on a high shelf. Start tidying the kitchen and childs bedroom (what?) now I have just run myself a deep hot bath (instead of the usual shower).

As long as I log in today I will call that progress.

Decided to see if I was going to struggle with connecting to HMRC

"Thank you for sending the online Self Assessment submission to the 'TEST IN LIVE' service."

That works
I just have to populate the forms with this years figures now......

 

[billy_bob]

Some advice for anyone thinking of becoming self-employed in the future and wanting to make this time of year easier:

• never give to charity
• never put your money anywhere where it'll earn interest
• never, ever, ever do a combination of self-employed working and PAYE working

 

[wayward bob]

i got bogged down with the books in the great LED scramble of may 2016

then i went back to my "filing" and got bogged down in the manic eBay splurge of early 2017

and now the weed is kicking in and it might be wise to take a break

 

[wayward bob]

never, ever, ever do a combination of self-employed working and PAYE working

oh fuck

 

[crossthebreeze]

Well that's my tax return filed anyway. Hope everyone else isn't having too much difficulty.

 

[Cheesypoof]

i feel your pain...... I am a contracter with my employer and hire a firm to do all my tax...costs me €90 a month!!! i cant be dealing with it

 

[iamwithnail]

. Nm, Repeating something I said earlier.

 

[crossthebreeze]

Well that's my tax return filed anyway. Hope everyone else isn't having too much difficulty.

and then i woke up this morning in a panic realising i'd made a mistake , so have had to amend it - which i didn't realise you could do, but is really easy. Phew!

 

[cupid_stunt]

1927 you are not helping. Start another thread called 'smug people who already filed their tax returns months ago'.

I used to leave it to the last moment, now I have an accountant & I run Xero accountancy software, linked to the bank account, so I reconcile it daily & upload any invoices/receipts for outgoings, so everything is there for my accountant as soon as the tax year ends.

Knowing what I need to pay months in advance is handy for budgeting, especially as I have to file a VAT return in January & pay that too. My blood pressure at this time of year no longer shoots up!

#smug_bastard.

 

[bimble]

I have a friendly accountant now (recommended by a lovely urbanite) so hopefully things will get better from here on in. I sent them everything on Friday night, in a giant zip file, and now am hoping that they'll get back to me to say they have all the info they need to complete the return on my behalf. In future maybe they'll nudge / encourage me to get things done gradually instead of at the last possible moment.

 

[cupid_stunt]

I have a friendly accountant now (recommended by a lovely urbanite) so hopefully things will get better from here on in. I sent them everything on Friday night, in a giant zip file, and now am hoping that they'll get back to me to say they have all the info they need to complete the return on my behalf. In future maybe they'll nudge / encourage me to get things done gradually instead of at the last possible moment.

My accountant tries to get people organised, it's easier with clients using accountancy software, she told me last week that her firm was still waiting on stuff from over 200 clients, and the team has been working flat out 6-days a week & 12 hour days. For the first time in my life I found myself feeling sorry for accountants.

 

[RubyToogood]

Some advice for anyone thinking of becoming self-employed in the future and wanting to make this time of year easier:

• never give to charity
• never put your money anywhere where it'll earn interest
• never, ever, ever do a combination of self-employed working and PAYE working

What about if you have 3 PAYE jobs on top of self-employment, including one you had totally forgotten about?

 

[RubyToogood]

I'm just looking in my file. I've actually got envelopes labelled "other" and my blood is running cold as I realise that I don't have my P60 from last year.

I too had this. However! Whilst searching through my emails in case I had an electronic copy I found a useful note from the finance person asking us all to use our HMRC online tax account, and that has all the details (except the organisation's tax ID ) in it! Personal tax account: sign in or set up - GOV.UK.

I'd completely forgotten this previously as being too boring. It uses the same login as your self-assessment form.

 

[billy_bob]

What about if you have 3 PAYE jobs on top of self-employment, including one you had totally forgotten about?

Escape to Guatemala.

 

[DexterTCN]

What about if you have 3 PAYE jobs on top of self-employment, including one you had totally forgotten about?

If it's an issue you can phone the tax office on 0300 200 3300 (voice operated - say 'coding' to speak to a person) and ask them to send you the p60 details. They know even if you don't.

Then you'd phone self-assessment (0300 200 3310) and tell them the tax office is delaying your filing by the due date (2 weeks post timescale) and ask for an extension.

Any reasonable excuse will result in an extension.

 

[pengaleng]

I aint been at work for ages and am expecting invoice hell this week and a pile of unallocated faded unreadable receipts

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

Great. Set myself up this morning to get all this done. Record on, seat adjusted, files and invoices to my right. Undisturbed until 3pm.
It's quarter past 11. I've gone through several records, started some braised ox cheeks, and browsed longboards on line.

Not logged into my account as of yet.
I think I need to go to the shops, so this might end up being a job for tomorrow.

 

[lazythursday]

I did mine early this year cos of the sneaky pulling of credit card payments in mid Jan. All went surprisingly smoothly this time which has left me with nagging doubts about what awful thing I have done wrong.

And I have discovered you can pay on account by monthly direct debit. A good idea, or just a cunning way for HMRC to get my cash early and earn interest on it? I am undecided.

 

[cupid_stunt]

lazythursday & everyone else:

HMRC are planning to move towards quarterly tax returns, in the same manner as VAT returns are quarterly, as they more towards ‘Making Tax Digital’, IIRC it was originally due to come in this year, but has been pushed back, from my understanding it's now coming in for VAT registered businesses in 2019, and all other self-employed people & SME's in 2020.

I am told it should be easy for those of us using the likes of Xero or QuickBooks accountancy software, good luck to everyone else.

 

[editor]

Still struggling at the 'getting started' bit.

 

[cupid_stunt]

Still struggling at the 'getting started' bit.

I used to always find that the hardest, but once I started I would get stuck in & get the bloody thing done.

 

[Sasaferrato]

I almost cried yesterday on the phone to hmrc when they told me I didn't need to fill one out and they could just make an adjustment on the system as I only did a short bit of sessional work before my job. The form I tried to fill in the day before nearly drove me to drink, it was awful. Good luck!

This time last year, it could well have been me you were speaking to. I was on the SA Helpline. (I filled my own one in on the 31st last year, praying that the system wouldn't crash.).

 

[lazythursday]

The one thing I've grown to like about the whole process is the fact that you are whisked through a portal back to 2004 or so, where you are warned about the length of time it might take to download a PDF file of your return by dial up modem. It is like visiting a video shop or a coal mine or something.

 

[cupid_stunt]

The one thing I've grown to like about the whole process is the fact that you are whisked through a portal back to 2004 or so, where you are warned about the length of time it might take to download a PDF file of your return by dial up modem. It is like visiting a video shop or a coal mine or something.

Seriously?

I've not seen that, as my accountants files my return. But, yeah, the whole HMRC site is a bit of a mess TBH.

 

[wayward bob]

the fine for missing the deadline is less than the fee an accountant would charge and all they do is put the numbers in the right boxes. i'm still at the finding out what the numbers are stage

i have mysteriously made a pair of beautiful striped mittens in tiny yarn over the past 2 days