Tax Deductable Items

Matt808

Hi. I am a self employed bricklayer who in the past has paid an accountant to sort out my self assesment. However i am thinking of doing it myself this year.

My problem is that i am not sure of all the things that i am able to deduct from my profit.

I know that i can put down things like work clothing and tools.

I'm unsure about motor expenses as i've read that you can claim 40p per mile. Can you only claim this if your job is that of a driver?, or could i claim it for my travel to and from the building sites i work on.

I'd appreciate any advice. Also, if there are any books or websites that explain the process of filling in the self assesment can somone point me in there direction?

thanks

Matt

fengirl_2

The simple rule is that you need to include all the items which you have bought wholly and exclusively for the business and if you make a note of these as you go through the year it will be far easier than trying to look back and remember.
Work clothes would probably not be wholly and exclusively unless they were things like safety boots, etc. Tools under £100 need to be included, but anything over that would attract a capital allowances claim.
Travel to and from the sites you work on also needs to be included, but you need to know what basis claims were made in previous years, so you need your old accountant to tell you this. he will also be able to give you the value of any capital allowance pool.
Before you sefl assess you need to produce your income and expenditure account and then transfer these to the self employment pages on the SA. If your t/o is under £30k, then you just enter income expenses and net profit.
Are you sure its not worth paying an accountant to do this for you?

John_Pierpoint

Does a brick layer use his own individual tools worth more than 100 GBP each?

Perhaps in these high tech. days he does?

TM1976

Presuming you're a 20% taxpayer you will pay effectively 28% tax on you profits after class 4 NI so if your accountant can identify £1,000 more expenses than you you'll pay £280 less.

Also you can be sure that he has identified the right things that may help you avoid future penalties/interest.

Unless you have excellent knowledge of tax and accountancy (or you can get it done by someone you know who has) doing this yourself is a false economy IMO.

John_Pierpoint

For a brick layer? - I would try a discussion with my mates at tea break as a start - in the final analysis it is the brick layer's signature on the tax return not his accountant's.
(Come to think of it won't he be endangered by the tax deduction rules brought in to clamp down on the 1960's "The Lump" tax evasion - the building industry CIS scheme.?)

Matt808

Thanks for the replies.

The reason that i was planning to self assess this year was because as the housing market has been down over the last couple of years all the major house builders have slashed their prices, hence i haven't been making the kind of money i did in the past.

I expect the money i have made to be less than 30K so i assumed that it was just a matter of working out exactly what i had made, taking away a few expenses (work clothes, tools, motor expeses) and the the £6475 (or what ever the tax free allowance is) from this figure to get my net profit.

I understand that an accountant will be able to identify more expenses than me, but i'm wondering if the extra expenses he will be able to claim will justify his £300 fee.

Kromlov

I worked for a while in Edinburgh last year - and I payed tax, but am owed some money back. Probably about 500 - 600 pounds, does anyone know how to claim this back??