Professional help

Genesis

Ignorance is no defence of the law. So many people that are self employed think they can get away with doing their own tax return & accounts to save money. I urge those people to seek professional help from an expert. It does not have to cost the earth to have a decent accountant.

morgani

I'm an accountants in practice and in theory I agree.

However, it is after all self assessment.

My advice is usually that if you are happy with the concept of double entry bookkeeping and the fact that some claims may be slightly out in order to save a few hundred pound then that is fine. Likewise there are always those who would rather not take any risk.

I have in the past after meeting a client advised that there is little more I could do to hep them in terms of saving tax as they had done their research and there was very little that had been missed. I explained that if they wanted to appoint me for peace of mind or to save time or any other reason than to save more tax then OK.

I usually advise that Limited Companies and Partnerships are different and substantial gains can usually be had by having an accountant to ensure things are correct mainly due to the additional rules and legislation and the cost of getting things wrong.

I have nothing against those who are trying to do what the system says and self assess. I even give some free help on here often that is widely available (but only if you know what to look for and where).

Cut some people some slack and let them try. Not everyone needs professional representation although I would recommend it should an investigation arise.

Chinkle

While it is rather worrying to see some postings here by people who seem to be in a right muddle, utterly confused or ignorant about completing their tax returns (especially with just a couple of weeks for the 09/10 deadline) I don't think using an accountant is necessary for everyone going through self-assessment.

From a first timer, having kept receipts and updated spreadsheets throughout the year, I was able to complete my return online in about an hour and was pleased to find the HMRC figures tallied exactly with my own. Like they say "tax doesn't have to be taxing".

PlutoinCapricorn

I completely agree with Chinkle: I have been doing it all myself for years, and I too estimate my tax due well in advance of filing. Not all self employed people are running businesses as such, and in any case they should not just hand everything over and hope for the best as they are ultimately responsible.

I do realise that some people need financial advice too, or have a huge volume of sales and receipts and operate on a very large scale or just cannot spare the time, but there must be thousands whose affairs are simple and who earn below the threshold at which everything must be itemised.

chrismac1

Well organised people with simple tax affairs - one straightforward rental and on PAYE, for example, or a simple business like e-bay selling - should not require an accountant. Especially if they post up queries on here or similar sites. That is what we are here for.

The UK tax code doubled in size between 1997 and 2010, and this has made it much harder for a lot of people to get their tax returns right. Take company cars for example. I have a client who works for the local Chamber of Commerce and had to correct their calculation of his car benefit - but it's no wonder really, the rules are way more complex than they were in 1997.

Anyone with capital allowances in my view should seriously consider an accountant. The goalposts move every single Budget, all sorts of new twists like the Energy-saving stuff have been thrown into the mix.

Likewise limited company accounts unless it has minimal trading or is dormant. And find a qualified accountant who has bothered to keep up with the Companies Act 2006. And I agree that any partnership other than the very simplest can be a minefield - 3 tax returns needed for a start.....

flossy_splodge

When I first went self employed, I did my first SA myself.
Was very happy with the outcome and it was accepted by HMRC.
My self employment then ceased.
I contacted them and asked them to de-register me as I was going back to PAYE employment.

It appears they didn't.
To cut a long story short, some few years later and HMRC are having a hissy fit over my non filing of SA's returns.
They terrified me.
Their language is aggressive, they don't do what they say on the phone they will and you appear to have no come back whatsoever against their errors and inadequacies.

Now I am VERY lucky as my brother is a tax accountant and when I got to feeling suicidal over the whole business, I went to him and he has sorted it. The upshot is I have refunds due for every year they're griping about.
Personally I would ALWAYS use a specialist in future as he had access to information and systems I certainly did not and the time it took me to do the first one (several hours of checking and rechecking I'd done it correctly) was time NOT well spent.
I know I'm lucky in that my brother helped me out but even if I had to pay I would now do so. My return for this year long since done and I sleep easy at night.
Until someone reigns in HMRC and make them more user friendly and empathic to those genuinely struggling to do things correctly then contact with them is best avoided in my opinion.
I hate HMRC with a passion.
They're soulless and assume everyone is on the fiddle.
We're not.

chrismac1

I like the last post a lot! By an absolute landslide, dealing with HMRC on a daily basis is the worst part of being an accountant. Jobsworth City, Arizona. If I was a client, I'd consider the fees worth it just for not having to call or write to this lot.

zygurat789

chrismac1 wrote: »

I like the last post a lot! By an absolute landslide, dealing with HMRC on a daily basis is the worst part of being an accountant. Jobsworth City, Arizona. If I was a client, I'd consider the fees worth it just for not having to call or write to this lot.

I would consider that view to be overly polite to HMRC in particular and government agencies dealing with compliance.