Doing your own tax return

u751904

my husband is self employed and usually just hands all his accounts over to his accountant and pays £600 for them to do his tax return. He does nothing all year except keep receipts in bags etc. So no weekly books. I am going to attempt to sit down tomorrow and sort it out for him and fill in his tax return on line. I've got general management / budgetry experience but not done a tax return before. Got a vague understanding and hopefully can follow what to do online. Got the necessary id and pass codes from inland revenue etc. How easy is it to do ? any tips or places I should be looking at for help etc. thank you.

VfM4meplse

I find it relatively straightforward - but my affairs are simple and I have been completing a form for the last 15 years. My advice is to choose the appropriate pages and go through these in detail in advance so you know what information you need to gather. Do not underestimate the amount of preparation you will need to do in order to complete what appears to be a relatively small number of boxes.

The helpline is very useful but at this tme of the year gets very busy indeed (esp at weekends and in the evenings), so collate all your qs and be prepared to hang on. Oh yes, and make sure you have enough funds in your account by mid-week to send to the IR (banks will always warn that it can take upto 4 working days but in my experience the revenue grabs this asap ).

Good luck, the sense of relief that you won't have to do this for another year when you push the button is immeasurable!

missile

It is very easy to diy but if your OH has a bag full of receipts and invoices it will be a fair bit of work.

You do not need an accountant if OH is self employed, but it sounds like OH needs help and a good accountant may save him more than his fee.

Cook_County

Don't forget to accrue in the accounts for the pay he owes you for this work.

soolin

Silly question but have you already registered online and have log in details for online returns?

no-oneknowsme

soolin wrote: »

Silly question but have you already registered online and have log in details for online returns?

u751904 wrote: »

. Got the necessary id and pass codes from inland revenue etc. How easy is it to do ? any tips or places I should be looking at for help etc. thank you.

It seems that the OP is all registered and ready to file

no-oneknowsme

OP this year i helped my OH complete his first online tax return.

I had the feeling it was going to be very difficult as there was employment , unemployment,self employment all within the tax year but once i started the return i was amazed how simple it was !

Didnt take long to complete but in saying that , the business turnover wasnt very much (as it hadnt long started) and my OH had his books and expenses receipts etc highly organised.

Im not sure if i would have been so keen to tackle it had he not kept his accounts up to date though.

You say your Husband hasnt done much in the way of book keeping this year...hopefully you will manage to sort it all out for him.

Premier_2

Cook_County wrote: »

Don't forget to accrue in the accounts for the pay he owes you for this work.

If you do that, don't forget to ensure your husband is also registered as an employer and pays the employers NICS on the wages he owes you.

Don't forget to file the PAYE returns.

Also don't forget to include the cost of your husbands employer liability insurance. He does have insurance if he intends to employ you doesn't he?

Also don't forget to disclose on your own tax return the amount of pay you earn from your husband for doing his tax return.


... or it may be a lot easier to simply forget the whole idea of being paid by your husband to fill in your husband's tax return

chrismac1

Given the lack of time available it's likely the OP must file the return herself or be hit with a £100 fine. However, you could do what a friend of mine did whose accountant - in December! - - turned round and said "Sorry I won't have time to do your accounts now, you are too late and I am too busy!"

My friend had some decent spreadsheets and had pretty much worked out which boxes to put the numbers in. The numbers won't be exactly the same as ones a professional accountant would have come up with, but having talked them over with her on the phone at least there are no big howlers the HMRC database will spot right away. Gross profit is about right, and so on. So she has submitted them herself and made a note on the return about the uncertainties.

Then when the heat is off next month she can have a professional set of accounts done and re-submit the tax return if needs be.

u751904

Premier wrote: »

If you do that, don't forget to ensure your husband is also registered as an employer and pays the employers NICS on the wages he owes you.

Don't forget to file the PAYE returns.

Also don't forget to include the cost of your husbands employer liability insurance. He does have insurance if he intends to employ you doesn't he?

Also don't forget to disclose on your own tax return the amount of pay you earn from your husband for doing his tax return.


... or it may be a lot easier to simply forget the whole idea of being paid by your husband to fill in your husband's tax return

yes at this stage of the game I just want to fill in the **** form. Anyhow a morning free of kids and chores is enough payment

u751904

Thanks for the info I am going to have a go. IT isn't a complicated business to be honest ( I say now) no employees or debtors etc so I'll see. I do agree with the comment on lateness in part but will figure it out ! thanks