Need some help with my first self assessment

greeble

Hello,

No matter how many times I ring the inland revenue their lines always seem too busy.

I need to fill in my self assessment for 2010/11 tax year. As I'm doing this online I've got until the 31st of January to complete and send. I'm having problems with the first page though, let me explain my situation.

I'm currently registered as self employed though I have been unemployed for over a year.

In September 2010 I was temporarily employed to do some work for around two weeks where I earned around 2k. At the end of it I got a payslip with tax deducted (too much as they calculated me earning that amount for the whole year!) and I got a P45 later on.

Later that month I did another job for the same company, though this time as a freelancer, so I was brought on board for three weeks and paid 5k which wasn't taxed.

As the job was sprung on me I wasn't registered as self employed at the time so I registered after. Though since then I have been unsuccessful at getting further freelance work, so have been pretty much unemployed since September/October 2010.

I've never filled out a self assessment form and have been putting it off for a long time. I figured I'd wait in-case I would get more freelance work but that hasn't been the case.

My main concern is that the first page asks 'If you were an employee, director, office holder or agency worker, do you need to complete the employment section' Then it asks 'Were you self employed' I was self employed for the later job though I was also temporarily employed before that. Again the temporarily employment was different to self employment as they handled it as if I was permanently employed but for two weeks only. So where would that fit in in regards to these questions on the self assessment form?

I hope I've made myself clear. All very complex for me

John_Pierpoint

You can be employed and self employed at the same time - thousands of tax payers are.
The self employed part of the return requires you to appear as a "business man" trading and making a "profit".
(I'm sure you must have had some trading expenses ?).

You have not been "employed", when you invoiced your customer for that £5K, you have been selling your skills to your customer - unfortunately customers are a bit thin on the ground at the moment.

pjclar02

Hello there

You will need to complete both the "employment" and "self employment" pages of the self assessment form.

The employment pages will contain the details from the P45 that was provided to you - i.e. the £2,000, less the tax.

The self-employment pages will contain the £5,000 income you received, less any applicable expenses.

If you have £500 or so worth of expenses then there should be no tax to pay, and the tax deducted through your employment can be refunded to you.

Hope this helps.

greeble

Thanks for the information guys Grateful for the help.

I did buy a laptop at the time which set me back around £900. Also I think there were £100 in travel expenses. Can I claim this all back and not pay tax?

Apologies as I'm a total tax noob though am I correct in thinking if I don't claim any expenses I get taxed more than if I would claim back expenses?

BoGoF

Do you use the laptop for personal use?

greeble

from time to time. Though I bought it specifically for that job and with the idea in mind that I would need it for future jobs.

PlutoinCapricorn

HMRC want 3 figures from you in the self employment section: total income, total legitimate expenses and total profit, which is income minus the expenses. The total profit is what you will be taxed on. The expenses just reduce the total profit: you do not get the money back from HMRC. However, if you are not due to pay any tax this is not very useful.

Some people claim laptops as capital items, but many just put them in the general expenses, which is much simpler.

lynnysinger

if your turnover is less than 70k you can fill out the simple assessment where you put in just those figures of turnover - minus allowable expenses, and profit/loss.
i would do it that way, and as you bought the computer for the business i would definately put that in with other expenses. after all when you bought it you didnt know that you werent going to get any more work.
we did ours yesterday. its not as bad as you think. a lot of the questions wont be relevant , just have to plough through it.
good luck

greeble

cheers guys

PlutoinCapricorn, thanks for making this more clear! I will definitely be putting this down as an expense.

lynnysinger, by simple assesment do you mean the standard self assesment? If there is a more simpler version I've not been aware of it? I'm going through the online version.

Possetjohn

The questions you answer at the beginning of the on-line HMRC form will result in you getting the simple or full SA forms. It things like your turnover and if your accounting dates have changed from memory but there may be others.

I guess from what you have said you will automatically get the simple form!

greeble

Thanks Possetjohn. I guess I can always go back and forward through pages and correct any mistakes. I'm going to work through this at the beginning of January so really appreciate all the advice given here I will no doubt be back then