Tax and SA advice

owitemisermusa

Hello there, need some advice from people in the know.

I've had to start doing a SA return since I let out my former home.

Now onto the second one (ie for 2008/09) and pretty much done. Friends have advised engaging an accountant to ensure that I'm not making any mistakes and generally to help me be more tax efficient.

Called a few and got some quotes. Best is about £150 (ex VAT) pa for SA and general tax services and an EXTRA £50 (ex VAT) pa to handle my property tax. About £200 (ex VAT) pa in total.

Wondering why the property should be charged separately. Is this usual?

Overall, is this a fair quote?

Beyond the tax return, I don't see why I'll need an accountant. Am I being naive?

Thanks in advance for your help and advice.

fengirl_2

This is a reasonable quote for this type of job - it appears your affairs are otherwise straightforward. The jobs rae charged separately because the fee for the property side is allowable against your property income whereas the fee for doing your return is not tax deeductable.
Only you can decide whether its worthwhile to hire an accounant - it all depends on your confidence in your own abilities.

owitemisermusa

Thanks fengirl.
I didn't realise that only the Property aspect was tax-deductible, I thought the whole accountancy fee was. Wow! I had no idea.

In that case, is there any way to split the two? I assume that to prepare my return, he would need to input the property income/expenses as I have had to do.
I can't imagine there would be a distinction as I only do one SA return.

Thanks for further illumination!

fengirl_2

The accountant will need to prepare an income and expenditure statement for the letting income and thats what he has quoted for. The fee for this will be include in the letting statement. From there, the dtails on the statement are transferred to your self assessment along with details of your salary, bank interest and so on. The fee for this is personal to you and not tax dedcutable. (Remember the MP's who were using their expense allowances to obtain tax advice when they should not have?)

owitemisermusa

Thank you fengirl. Your replies have been a real eye-opener!
I'll need to evaluate my needs afresh. Since the rest of the fees are not tax deductible, I need to decide whether it's worthwhile.
Perhaps I'll engage the accountant for a year and re-evaluate if I'm getting value for money. Besides I need him for previous tax years for which I am pretty sure I'll need his help.
Thanks again.