First year of Self Assessment, left it late, now in a panic... can anyone help?

delouz

Hey all,

I realise this is going to sound like we're completely disorganised, which we are, and totally stupid, which I feel.

We've just realised we've left it really late to fill in our SA Tax Returns, and I'm hitting hurdles really early on.

We run a small seasonal business that operates mostly at music festivals throughout the summer. The business is run by myself and my partner, we have not drawn any wages at all from the business account.

I've just gone to sign up at the HMRC site to do an online self assessment, but was confronted with this choice:

Individual
Please register as an 'Individual' if you are using HM Revenue & Customs Online Services for personal transactions or if you are self-employed.

Organisation
Please register as an 'Organisation' if you are using HMRC's Online Services as an employer, a contractor, a Partnership, a Limited Company or Trust.

Now we are both self-employed, which makes me think it should go under 'individual' but we're also a 'partnership', according to our business bank account.

So I called HMRC in the hope of somebody clarifying this for me. I eventually got through, and the person informed me that I would need to fill in 'individual' returns for both myself and my partner, as well as filling in a 'partnership' return, which would require "3rd Party Software", when I asked her *what* 3rd party software, she just told me to google '3rd party software'... She eventually found someone who seemed to have more of an idea, who then informed me that I needed to purchase some software from a company online, called Andica.

I am now completely confused, and I'm sure the business advisor we had yonks ago, insisted that the self-assessment was a very straightforward task.

Oh, and to complicate things further, I can only find a 'Unique Taxpayer Reference' for myself, nothing for my partner, and I don't know if there should be one for the business.

Any help would be very much appreciated.

Cheers,
Delouz.

mlp

1. Have you both registered as self-employed? If so, HMRC should be able to give your partner's UTR
2. Have you registered the Partnership with HMRC?

There will be the individual element to the tax return, plus a section for the partnership. I don't think you need any software to fill it in. Perhaps they got confused as an accountant would probably use 3rd party software when filling in / submitting on your behalf

Perhaps it isn't TOO late to seek out an accountant to sort it out for you?

delouz

Thanks for the quick reply MLP.

Okay, one hurdle down, we've found the other UTR, for my partner. So I've now gone onto the site and registered for online SA for both of us, as individuals.

As for the 'partnership', how would I be able to find out if we're registered as a partnership with HMRC?

I've been through tons of paperwork, but can't find any mention of a Partnership UTR.

Cheers,
Delouz.

delouz

I've just found out from HMRC that we are registered as a partnership, and they're sending through our Partnership UTR... So I think it's becoming a little clearer.

My next thought is, what do we put down for our individual tax returns, as neither of us has taken any money as wages from the business, we've been surviving solely on Working Tax Credits.

Still a bit confused. x

Auntie-Dolly

Whether you've taken the money out or not is immaterial - you will be taxed on the amount of profit made in the year. Usually we fill in the SA800 partnership return, then split the profit between us & declare it on our individual returns. I believe you are too late to submit a paper SA800 which is why you need to find the 3rd party online software - probably via an accountant or bookkeeping firm.

mlp

I'd find an accountant to sort it out. So much easier.

Mistral001

I assume that you are trying to meet the end of January 2012 deadline for the 2010/2011 tax year. There is time yet, but you might need the services of an accountant. Accountants will deal with people who are on working tax credits and should be familiar with them. They will ask all the relevant questions and should be able to get to the important issues fairly quickly.

The fact that you have decided not to pay yourself any money from the business is irrelevant as far as I can see and as Aundties Dolly has have pointed out as well.

PS. For the 31st of January dead line the tax return has to be sumitted online as you have missed the 31st October deadline for submitting it by paper. That could be the reason why HMRC mentioned special software for partnership.

spannie1000

I agree with all the above should become much less of a muddle once you get online as it's not as hard as it looks. I have been doing my own SA online for a few years and 1st year I called HMRC about 6 times for advice and got it done in 3 days solid work. There is still hope.

I'd also like to point out that there is a list of registered/approved partnership software suppliers on the HMRC website. I'm looking for which one to use for the first time this year - perhaps another MSE in a partnership could tell us of their experience using the ones they use? I'm kind of looking at Sage but only because it's the only name I recognise!

Anna

oldtoolie

I have used Tax Calc to file a personal return for the past 6 years. It takes less than 60 minutes if I have all the necessary records. It makes it easy.

The Personal version costs about £30 and the Business Partnership version (which allows you to prepare the personal returns as well) costs £47.00 + VAT. You can buy it online at https://www.taxcalc.com