Need help - self assessment confusion

no-oneknowsme

sondora88 wrote: »

mikeyorks - yes! thanks, this makes sense, now I just need to figure out where & what I'm filling it in wrong

jimmo - can you just clarify (i know this is a stupid question, but..) when the forms say enter "profit" = this means "wage/salary" in this sense?
SA800; this one seems to be filled in OK according to what you have said.

SA100; as we are doing it online I'm assuming that the SA104's are included in the SA service page we've been filling in.
The SA100 has been asking for our business turnover however? This is why we entered the 30,000 in here.

In any case, I just logged in to check your instructions with what's on the form - but of course now there is maintenance on that part of HMRC's website!

Thank you all for your input & help its really appreciated. I will have to check the HMRC site again in the morning.

Sandora - "profit" means the difference between what your business actually earns per year - which you have said is £30k MINUS the amount you say you incurred as expenses - £22k you said.

This would mean that your business profit is £8k

sondora88

no-oneknowsme wrote: »

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Jimmo . The op says that this is the first year of trading . Sa started in August 2009 (i think it was) , maybe this year has higher expenses due to the business only starting etc...

Or is this your "tax inspector" nose sniffing out something a bit more sinister ?;)

Income of £30k and expenses of £22k do seem to be a bit high though , i do agree.

I'm afraid this is true. There is nothing sinister about it!
We started a business with no savings, no loans, and only the support of our families; we made a choice to pay ourselves little and invest as much as we possibly could back into stock and parts, not to mention that I'm talking about a timeframe that was about 8 months and not a whole tax year.

In any case, it was worth the sacrifice and we are in a much better position now.

As for the comment about going on the dole; I have never and never (hopefully) intend to go "on the dole". Comments like this sadden me sometimes.
With hard work, sacrifice, and perseverance we have essentially created a business out of nothing, and we are proud of it.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand...

When I talk about the SA service page I refer to the SA100 online form webpage itself. Nothing else.

jimmo wrote:

If you are filling in boxes on your personal Return (SA100) declaring the business turnover etc of the partnership then you've got it wrong big time.

I've logged in this morning to check this.
The SA100 I've been filling in explicitly asks for details of my self employment and what the turnover of the business is.

I have another probably obvious question as I'm going through the form again:
Is the "business name" the same as the "partnership name"?

I've been reading the SA150 pdf, and the help sheet 222, and at the very end of the 222, there is a chart example where a Partnership's tax has been worked out very similarly to ours.

Thank you guys for your time, but I'm still lost as to what I've put in somewhere which is calculating this way, unless I'm completely misunderstanding the terms being used.
If anyone can see where I'm going wrong please let me know

I'm going to ring HMRC on monday and hope I can get through so they can talk me through it perhaps.
If I do find a solution I will post it here for any poor soul as clueless as me in the future!

sondora88

jimmo wrote: »

On a practical basis I read your posts so far as saying that you have an annual income of £4,000.
I don't buy that. You would be far better off on the dole

Not to look a gift horse in the mouth, but I don't see its necessary for a comment like this? We aren't taxed on manners. If you "don't buy it", ummmm, okay? I've explained my case, and if that doesn't convince you, well: I shrug.

ANYWAY --- I've figured out WHY this was happening. I went over the form from start to finish again, and in the "tailor your return" section, there were two questions:
"Were you self employed?" and "Were you in a Partnership?"

I had put "Yes" to BOTH - thinking they were separate, when in fact I needed to ONLY put that I was in a Partnership (under the ? button, the self-employed option is for a SOLE person).

So, the reason the tax was so high was because we had filled out both sub sections and were being taxed on the profit and my share together.

Well hopefully if somebody else makes this mistake this will help them.

Thank you all again for your time and help!

no-oneknowsme

Jimmo - i agreed that the earnings/expenses didnt really seem realistic but in saying that , i am new to all of this self employment stuff as well.

What are your thoughts ?

no-oneknowsme

Confused......my post above was a reply to an email notification that jimmo had made a post at 1.20am....but the posts gone !

Must have been deleted by Jimmo?

chrismac1

Personally I thought that was on outrageous comment from Jimmo, only possible from someone who's never had to go out and find business in order to earn a crust. In the UK, the only Court in which you are guilty until proven innocent is the HMRC Court - Thank God it's the other way around in the Courts that have the final say!

I have a few clients who are getting by on £5k or less net income. Jimmo, for one thing there is this thing called a recession on. A big customer goes belly up on a small business and you know what, that's MINUS £4k profit for the month even if the business sales for the year are only £50k. Or if someone in their late teens / early 20s starts out a business whilst staying with their parents it is possible for small amounts of profit to be OK for a year or 18 months until the business is properly established.

suso

chrismac1 wrote: »

Personally I thought that was on outrageous comment from Jimmo, only possible from someone who's never had to go out and find business in order to earn a crust. In the UK, the only Court in which you are guilty until proven innocent is the HMRC Court - Thank God it's the other way around in the Courts that have the final say!

had to laugh out loud when I read this from the resident idiot on the board.

Chrismac you frequently make outrageous unfounded comments and find lots of people guilty before even talking to them, all of them are either HMRC employees or ex HMRC or IR employees, get the chip off your shoulders.

Thank god your in a minority of accountants.

sondora88

Wow, is it just me or is there a lot of animosity on these boards?

Actually, chrismac1 is exactly right about my situation. Thank you for your post.

I'm sorry to say I don't think I'll be back to this board - the attitude of some people here is really quite intolerable.

jimmo

Sorry to read that, particularly since it was clearly me who caused the row to erupt in the first place. That was never my intention but, having caused the damage, I had hoped that the least said, the soonest mended.

System

sondora88 wrote: »

Wow, is it just me or is there a lot of animosity on these boards?

...

I'm sorry to say I don't think I'll be back to this board - the attitude of some people here is really quite intolerable.

Just ignore the posts that you find intolerable, and read those where good advice is being offered.

On public forums like this there are always a few people that will rub you the wrong way, but the majority post helpful replies.