Finding a reliable tax agent

jojy

I am recently registered as a self employed and I would like to know what things should I consider when choosing a tax agent? I have never done business in UK before so I am unaware of how much they pay to agents, where to find a reliable agent? and how to submit a tax return?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

heretolearn_2

You want an accountant. Look for one of the chartered ones (ACCA, ACA) and go for one with tax planning experience if you are expecting profits over about 50k.Most accountants just fill out the tax form routinely without thinking about tax planning/saving at all, which is their clients loss. You will need to meet/discuss with them a few months before your business year end to take any tax planning action.

What type of returns you have to do depends on your business structure. Sole trader, partnership, Ltd?

John_Pierpoint

jojy wrote: »

I am recently registered as a self employed and I would like to know what things should I consider when choosing a tax agent? I have never done business in UK before so I am unaware of how much they pay to agents, where to find a reliable agent? and how to submit a tax return?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

You need to ask yourself what sort of business man you are going to be.
How involved you want to be in accounting and tax.
How complicated you want to make your business structure.
Will you be an employer.
Could your "other half" be your only employee?
How good you are at doing your enterprise and how much you earn per hour.

Obviously there is no point in "having a dog and barking yourself" on the other hand if your business is simple and you have the time and interest to do most of the accounting yourself, there is not much point in paying someone else's high hourly charge to do this work for you.

What will you business be doing?

Self employed dog walker or international hedge fund trader?

jojy

I mainly do software development, I have organized everything i.e: expenses, profit etc. I need help with followings things

1. I have hired employees in different countries (none located in UK) can I register them here or show their salaries as business expenses?
2. I work from home and have shared accommodation. I pay my bills to my partner can I show this as my business expense? If yes then is it necessary that all bills are on my name?

John_Pierpoint

I think you will need a professional for this.

There are some professionals who give free time and advice on here, and probably thus find new clients.
("If you need more details send me a PM" (personal message) is an indication)

Your business is fairly obviously based in the UK.

You don't want UK employees if you can avoid it - they have all sorts of rights and you have all sorts of unpaid tax man responsibilities.
Self employed subcontractors who invoice you for their work would be better.

You can charge reasonable heating lighting renting telephone etc. type expenses on domestic property BUT beware of becoming liable to business rates and Capital Gains tax on part of the building.

[The UK is running a serious budget deficit with government spending approaching 50% of GDP - so if they can find something to tax they will]

Are you a "non dom" (ie not domiciled in the UK a foreigner, who has not been here for long)?

If you do searches of this part of the forum or use Google to search just this web site, you might well find someone else in a similar situation.

Pennywise

You need to talk to a few accountants - most will give a free initial consultation. I'd start by choosing 3 - a "one man band", a typical one-office town centre firm, and a larger multi practice regional/national firm. The services you'll get from each kind will be widely different. You'll get personal service from a one man band but they may not have enough experience of any specialisms you need. A town centre firm should have a broader mix of specialisms and may satisfy you. A regional/national firm will have specialists in all areas for businesses with above-average needs. Once you've talked to all three types, you'll have a better idea of what you want. Then once you've decided, so and talk to a couple more of that kind of firm, and choose the one who you feel you can work best with.

So, maximum of five phone calls/meetings - not a lot of time and hassle when the future of your business is at stake.

Above all else, trust your instinct - if you get bad vibes or you don't get on well enough, then walk away!

Don't just consider price - a good accountant could be worth thousands to you, but a bad one could lose you far more than their fee!

And please be completely open and upfront about your circumstances, your plans and what you want from your accountant.

As to another posters comment about "most" accountants not being interested in planning, that's just plain wrong. Most accountants would love to help their clients improve their business and save tax - I certainly do - the trouble is getting clients to pay for the advice and getting clients to tell you what they're planning to do before they do it. You can't "plan" after a client has sold their business, or engaged an employee or bought a car. By definition, "planning" means looking forward, not looking back. Nothing worse for an accountant is to get a phone call from a client saying he's "just sold the business" or "just bought a property", etc - I could literally scream!! Also, most clients give the initial instruction that all they want is "someone to do the tax return" i.e. the least possible work and low fee. For the more enlightened clients of mine, some have saved thousands of pounds in tax by giving me the chance to give them planning advice long BEFORE they take actions. So if you want "advice", then tell the accountant you want advice, tell them your plans long before you do it, and be prepared to pay for their expertise!

John_Pierpoint

I think I have cracked the joke about "Software" being the ideal product for tax avoidance.
When I was a kid there was a show on the radio called "Have a Go" that toured the country interviewing people and offered them a chance to answer a quiz question to win a very modest prize.
One question that stumped the contestants for some time was "You go into a shop and buy something but come away with less than when you went in, What did you buy?

The answer was tucriah (spelled backwards).
Software is the product that you cannot see, hear, feel but it smells.
It crosses borders in the twinkle of an eye. can be instantly reproduced and sold again.

I'm sure there was a thread somewhere on setting up a company in Dublin but nominally managing it from a tax haven.
There was some argument about setting the company up in Bulgaria.

I personally know of someone running businesses from Monaco (Which is incredibly expensive in terms of property and only the size of a large farm) but manages to own property elsewhere and seems able to travel freely in Europe.

I guess you can make life as complicated as you want too - it is just such a shame that with tax at current levels some of the best brains in the country are devoted to avoiding tax, rather than doing something productive.

Compare:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/42656032#Comment_42656032

antrobus

jojy wrote: »

I mainly do software development, I have organized everything i.e: expenses, profit etc. I need help with followings things

1. I have hired employees in different countries (none located in UK) can I register them here or show their salaries as business expenses?
2. I work from home and have shared accommodation. I pay my bills to my partner can I show this as my business expense? If yes then is it necessary that all bills are on my name?

If you've "hired employees in different countries (none located in UK)" then you will also need to comply with the tax regulations in those specific countries rather than the UK.

I would therefore say that you need a specific kind of accountant i.e. an accountancy practice with some kind of international network that is able to deal with tax compliance in the USA, Germany or wherever, in addition to the UK.