mikky Posted March 21, 2012 Report Share Posted March 21, 2012 my lad is coming towards the end of his first year as self employed ( also works part time paye )can anyone recommend any book keeping/tax return packages,he has someone looking at his pile of receipts and weekly income,but i would like to help him put it together with the aim of giving it to an accountant before it is given to the tax man,, cheers mikky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HDAV Posted March 21, 2012 Report Share Posted March 21, 2012 Excel is enough as long as everything is categorised as it is on the tax form I did like that OK for a few years before going VAT reg now the accountants do it all for £36 a month just post them the stuff they do it all and send it back done have online portal i can view it all in and get a paper copy on top then they do my TAX and i just electronically sign the form and pay the bill! dead easy but is £430 a year + VAT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikky Posted March 21, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 21, 2012 cheers for that...one question we need answering is just what exactly can we claim for,ie using a room in the house as an office,new laptop,phone etc...... mikky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HDAV Posted March 21, 2012 Report Share Posted March 21, 2012 That's tricky there is guidance home office use from HMRC they run courses free for the newly self employed and you can claim all legit business expenses accountant is best guide Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikky Posted March 21, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 21, 2012 That's tricky there is guidance home office use from HMRC they run courses free for the newly self employed and you can claim all legit business expenses accountant is best guide cheers mikky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerSim Posted March 22, 2012 Report Share Posted March 22, 2012 In my humble opinion, any accountant worth his fees, will save you more than his fees every year. Mine certainly does. If you don't have one in mind, or know one, get a recommendation from someone you know - or ask around other SME proprietors! ATB Sim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocksaplenty Posted March 22, 2012 Report Share Posted March 22, 2012 I’d just add that having an accountant or accounting package doesn’t remove the issues involved when the taxman wants to look into your affairs. Unless you a system where you can provide answers to questions concerning the day to day financial running of the business, or can elaborate from where a payment has come from, or gone to then you are better off doing it yourself. An accountant’s job is to take the data that you provide and present it in a standardised format. I’d advocate either getting a good book keeper or simply writing comments against every income or outgoing on your actual bank statement, so that in the future you can remember what it was for. Tax and vat investigations seem to start with small questions about certain payments, receipts that have ‘flagged’ up as suspicious – and which if answered quickly normally stop there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rupert Posted March 22, 2012 Report Share Posted March 22, 2012 cheers for that...one question we need answering is just what exactly can we claim for,ie using a room in the house as an office,new laptop,phone etc...... mikky Use a small one man band accountant to make sure you get every penny of your allowances,for home,vehicle and machinery/tools.Its hard enough to make any money without missing any allowances from the revenue. This has been my stratergy from day one (24 years ago)and he has without fail reduced my tax liability,and keeping up with all the changes and different ammendments will suck your will to live. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marine1980 Posted March 22, 2012 Report Share Posted March 22, 2012 my lad is coming towards the end of his first year as self employed ( also works part time paye )can anyone recommend any book keeping/tax return packages,he has someone looking at his pile of receipts and weekly income,but i would like to help him put it together with the aim of giving it to an accountant before it is given to the tax man,, cheers mikky Mate u need to make sure that the account deals or specialises in whatever line of business he is in! Rules and regs change all the time and they only tend to keep up to date on the ones that affect their customers, i hope that makes sence to you? He shouldn't be paying more than £250 a year for a good charted accountant! Royal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVB Posted March 22, 2012 Report Share Posted March 22, 2012 In danger of going OT here but I do see a lot of hypocrisy on PW. It ok for a small business/self employed person to take advantage of tax rules in order to avoid paying tax. It’s not OK for a large corporation to take advantage of tax rules in order to avoid paying tax. The reason is it’s OK for one is that a lot of people on PW are these such people and we don’t like slagging off our own! Regardless, both are avoiding tax within the rules which is legal. You can argue the morality of a lot of this but they are applying the own set of rules. The only person who doesn’t get any option is the man/woman on PAYE. That’s also not strictly true as they could jack it in and start running their own business as Silpig5 recently did. Sermon over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sako751sg Posted March 22, 2012 Report Share Posted March 22, 2012 Use a small one man band accountant to make sure you get every penny of your allowances,for home,vehicle and machinery/tools.Its hard enough to make any money without missing any allowances from the revenue. This has been my stratergy from day one (24 years ago)and he has without fail reduced my tax liability,and keeping up with all the changes and different ammendments will suck your will to live. My advice too,but make sure you get a good one who will maximise your allowances.I knew one who was way too conservative and didnt claim everything the lad was due and my rebates were always better than his.My sister in law is an accountant,and is a great help in letting me know what to claim,in fact she sorts the lot.You do get a certain percentage for house being used as an office,laptop can go on and also the phone bill as percentage for work use.A good accountant worth their salt should know all this,and with changes every year my head would be in bigger knots than it is if i tried it myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuC Posted March 22, 2012 Report Share Posted March 22, 2012 In danger of going OT here but I do see a lot of hypocrisy on PW. It ok for a small business/self employed person to take advantage of tax rules in order to avoid paying tax. It’s not OK for a large corporation to take advantage of tax rules in order to avoid paying tax. The reason is it’s OK for one is that a lot of people on PW are these such people and we don’t like slagging off our own! Regardless, both are avoiding tax within the rules which is legal. You can argue the morality of a lot of this but they are applying the own set of rules. The only person who doesn’t get any option is the man/woman on PAYE. That’s also not strictly true as they could jack it in and start running their own business as Silpig5 recently did. Sermon over. I was thinking the same. Everyone/company will try and avoid tax. I take childcare vouchers and pension contributions to reduce exposure to tax. Avoidance is legal, evasion is not. For the OP, as said before, make sure your lad gets a good accountant and avoids as much as possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rupert Posted March 22, 2012 Report Share Posted March 22, 2012 A point to note Any body can set up as a bookeeper,but your mortgage company are only interested in chartered/certified,the sevice you recieve may be comparable but the bill will not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr W Posted March 22, 2012 Report Share Posted March 22, 2012 The days of a £10 flat rate for using home as office have gone and I think now you can get away with about £3 per week from HMRC. Apportioning bills etc. is not a good idea if you're looking at selling the property at some stage due to capital gains tax implications. The fact that an accountant is chartered, certified etc means that they have gone through professional training and have to keep up with latest developments as part of their continuing professional development and also have to follow institute rules, have professional indemnity insurance etc etc. There is a world of difference between an aco****ant and a bookkeeper and it depends what service you require. Mikky PM me if you have any questions Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HDAV Posted March 22, 2012 Report Share Posted March 22, 2012 The days of a £10 flat rate for using home as office have gone and I think now you can get away with about £3 per week from HMRC. IT was a proportion of the property but has changed Apportioning bills etc. is not a good idea if you're looking at selling the property at some stage due to capital gains tax implications. Can you write off the loss of negative equity?The fact that an accountant is chartered, certified etc means that they have gone through professional training and have to keep up with latest developments as part of their continuing professional development and also have to follow institute rules, have professional indemnity insurance etc etc. There is a world of difference between an aco****ant and a bookkeeper and it depends what service you require. Accountants give professional advice and should be suitably qualified and insured, book keepers keep books big difference but both jobs need doing you can do some or all of it yourself...One negitivty of being "tax efficient" is you can now only get a mortage based on last 3 years gross profit (as declared on tax return)....nothing else SO looks like your lad might be staying with you for a while longer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cottonseed Posted March 22, 2012 Report Share Posted March 22, 2012 The days of a £10 flat rate for using home as office have gone and I think now you can get away with about £3 per week from HMRC. Apportioning bills etc. is not a good idea if you're looking at selling the property at some stage due to capital gains tax implications. The fact that an accountant is chartered, certified etc means that they have gone through professional training and have to keep up with latest developments as part of their continuing professional development and also have to follow institute rules, have professional indemnity insurance etc etc. There is a world of difference between an aco****ant and a bookkeeper and it depends what service you require. Mikky PM me if you have any questions In my last accounts I claimed £1300 for use of home as office. Had it been costed at £3 an hour I would've been in a no tax situation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikky Posted March 22, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 22, 2012 I’d just add that having an accountant or accounting package doesn’t remove the issues involved when the taxman wants to look into your affairs. Unless you a system where you can provide answers to questions concerning the day to day financial running of the business, or can elaborate from where a payment has come from, or gone to then you are better off doing it yourself. An accountant’s job is to take the data that you provide and present it in a standardised format. I’d advocate either getting a good book keeper or simply writing comments against every income or outgoing on your actual bank statement, so that in the future you can remember what it was for. Tax and vat investigations seem to start with small questions about certain payments, receipts that have ‘flagged’ up as suspicious – and which if answered quickly normally stop there. we have a bookeeper,everything is reasonably straight forward...can account for most things ie monies recieved,got receipts for everything,,but not sure what he can claim,everything is above board,just want to do the best i can for him mikky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikky Posted March 22, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 22, 2012 In danger of going OT here but I do see a lot of hypocrisy on PW. It ok for a small business/self employed person to take advantage of tax rules in order to avoid paying tax. It’s not OK for a large corporation to take advantage of tax rules in order to avoid paying tax. The reason is it’s OK for one is that a lot of people on PW are these such people and we don’t like slagging off our own! Regardless, both are avoiding tax within the rules which is legal. You can argue the morality of a lot of this but they are applying the own set of rules. The only person who doesn’t get any option is the man/woman on PAYE. That’s also not strictly true as they could jack it in and start running their own business as Silpig5 recently did. Sermon over. no intention of avoiding tax,just want to pay what we owe within the rules mikky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikky Posted March 22, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 22, 2012 In my last accounts I claimed £1300 for use of home as office. Had it been costed at £3 an hour I would've been in a no tax situation. may take you up on your offer at sometime cheers mikky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cottonseed Posted March 23, 2012 Report Share Posted March 23, 2012 may take you up on your offer at sometime cheers mikky Eh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr W Posted March 23, 2012 Report Share Posted March 23, 2012 (edited) In my last accounts I claimed £1300 for use of home as office. Had it been costed at £3 an hour I would've been in a no tax situation. It's not £3 per hour it's £3 per week that HMRC will accept as a use of home as office cost without checks etc. I'm not saying it's not ok if you're careful, the £3 rate is accepted as allowable with no issues by HMRC as this is the amount employees can be paid without any detailed calculations being needed. However if your actual property expenses are more you may be able to claim extra. See the details provided on the following link - there are also some worked examples. http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/bimmanual/BIM47815.htm Be careful to make any calculations fair and it is sensible not to let the business have exclusive use of a room as this may mean there are capital gains implications if you sell your home. See this HMRC link http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/cgt/property/sell-own-home.htm Edited March 23, 2012 by Dr W Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr W Posted March 23, 2012 Report Share Posted March 23, 2012 IT was a proportion of the property but has changed - Can you write off the loss of negative equity? 1. Still can be a proportion but generally in the past we used to claim routinely £520 for use of home as office as this was the level HMRC were ok with. This has now dropped to £3 but you can claim more if the calulations are sensible. 2. I don't know the answer to that, interesting question. I'll see if a tax colleague knows the answer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunderbird Posted March 23, 2012 Report Share Posted March 23, 2012 I do £750 and they are happy with that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HDAV Posted March 23, 2012 Report Share Posted March 23, 2012 NOt sure what i wrote off last year, accountants have a form it is much better if you live in a 2 bedroom place than a 4+ as they take a % based on rooms was over £500 IIRC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikky Posted March 24, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 24, 2012 Eh? Mikky PM me if you have any questions cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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