Self Assessment - easy to do?

lincoln-potter

Hello all,

I have just joined the forum and decided to embark on being mortgage free and a result of this is looking at cutting my costs. Previous years I have always instructed our accountants to do my tax returns for me.

However after being hit with a £540 bill this year I figured next year maybe I should look into doing it myself, however I am not the simplest of cases, so hopefully somebody with prior experience can tell me if it really is as simple they try to make out on the TV adverts.

I have two jobs, one which is paid via dividends and the second which is paid in the standard fashion. I also receive quarterly bonuses which can add up quite nicely however the figure always varies.

I will be honest and say I have never even looked properly previously at the paperwork involved so it is likely that I have simply been lazy over the years gone by.

Many thanks
LP

PlutoinCapricorn

Many people prepare their own tax returns, including me.

Filing online is by far the easiest option: you need to register and get a PIN first. They usually accept input from early May right up to Jan 31st the following year. You do not submit until you are happy with the figures, and even then you can always make an amendment: everything is automated so they just calculate/recalculate the tax due.

You will be asked if you have any income from many possible sources, so you just tick Yes or NO.

You do need to have the records of income to hand, so that you can transfer the figures.

HMRC do free self assessment courses, and much help is available online, including this forum which has some ex-HMRC people.

lincoln-potter

PlutoinCapricorn wrote: »

Many people prepare their own tax returns, including me.

Filing online is by far the easiest option: you need to register and get a PIN first. They usually accept input from early May right up to Jan 31st the following year. You do not submit until you are happy with the figures, and even then you can always make an amendment: everything is automated so they just calculate/recalculate the tax due.

You will be asked if you have any income from many possible sources, so you just tick Yes or NO.

You do need to have the records of income to hand, so that you can transfer the figures.

HMRC do free self assessment courses, and much help is available online, including this forum which has some ex-HMRC people.

Thank you very much for that, it sounds a fair amount easier than I expected.

I am quite well organised with all my figures so that shouldn't be a problem.

Again thank you for the response.

billymadbiker

Start as soon as you can,
Get and keep all your paperwork uptogether.
Then, as soon as you are bale to file a return, fill one in.
Before you submit it have a look at your figures.
If you have earned about the same as the previous year and the tax bill is about the same you should be right.

If your earnings are the same but your tax bill is, say £1k more, then that accountant has saved you £500 somewhere.

There is a fairly long window in which to submit your return so, do it early and that will give you time to look over things again or even take the whole lot back to the account if you need to.

PlutoinCapricorn

Was the accountant also giving advice about tax avoidance (legal!) and expenses etc.? Completing the return is one thing, financial advice is something else.

Where just completing the return is concerned, I would invest a few hours looking at HMRC's website, the source of all the rules and guidance.

lincoln-potter

PlutoinCapricorn wrote: »

Was the accountant also giving advice about tax avoidance (legal!) and expenses etc.? Completing the return is one thing, financial advice is something else.

Where just completing the return is concerned, I would invest a few hours looking at HMRC's website, the source of all the rules and guidance.

Yes they are quite on the ball with tax avoidance, just the legal options obviously

I have already made a note in my work calendar to remind to set up a personal account on HMRCs website.

I imagine its mostly just a case of bad form for me and sheer laziness on my behalf

PlutoinCapricorn

It seems that you are going to give it a go: as you are ultimately responsible anyway, this will help you to feel in control.

And doing it online has many advantages: the return cannot get lost in the post, and no one at HMRC can make mistakes inputting your figures from a paper form. Calculations are instant.

I can't remember anyone on MSE ever going back to paper forms after they have experienced filing online. (In any case. HMRC stop sending forms once you have submitted online).

latinaid

Make sure you have got a copy of the last tax return which your accountant submitted (you should be able to see it once you have registered online), and then cross-reference it with the figures you supplied to the accountant. That way you can see how s/he did it, and whether s/he has made any adjustments - if so, get on to him/her and ask for details. Even if they charge you for passing on this info, it will be worth it as you will save in the long run.

It certainly isn't difficult to do it yourself, as long as you are not the kind of person who is freaked out by forms (I know some people are - in fact, I help several of my self-employed friends fill in their returns, as they seem to turn into a rabbit in the headlights at the very thought of it!)

summervale

I managed to make a simple honest error on my on-line tax form and am now being harassed to pay well over the odds, in my opinion. Has anyone successfully challenged HMRC and had success? Is it worth paying an accountant? Please help!

angelpie1000

Please make sure you are really careful when submitting the returns yourself. The forms seem really easy, but a tick in the wrong box could result in you receiving an unexpected tax bill, interenst and penalties accumulating and spending months arguing with the Revenue.:mad: :mad:

Which is exactly the circumstances I often see when clients ask me to sort out the mess they have gotten themselves into.

I would also shop around for a cheaper accountant. Many would charge you less than the figures you are quoting.

The return doesn't sound too complicated, but the dividend, bonus and salary mix does leave you open for confusion.

Whichever way you go, please take care.

John_Pierpoint

In fairness we also get queries on this forum where the accountant has messed up.
When this happens HMRC take the attitude:
Who signed off this return?
Ah Mr/Mrs tax payer, so it is up to Mr/Mrs tax payer to sort it out with their accountant.
There is a difference, with a bit of luck the accountant will talk the jargon and be allowed to use a hot line to HMRC that bypasses the appalling communications available for us the proletariat.