Sole Trader Help TAX Return PLease

shap101

Hi , can anyone please advise me ,
I started in February 2013 selling musical instruments online and privately as an Sole trader , business could be better but it is nice to be your own boss .
The issue is that it is coming up to January and I am getting stressed about my tax return as I have never done it before
My original intention was to submit my own paperwork to the HRMC but I have decided against it as running the business is hard enough and with no experience I am going to struggle.
Have I left it too late to get an accountant ? as I have no idea on when or how to go about filling in the tax return and I am worried that I will fined by the HRMC .
I did inform the HRMC when I started and have been paying my NI contributions.
I have done my best to keep records of my sales , purchases , expenses and fuel costs if folders etc .
90% of my sales is done on ebay so I will be able to download any information I need.
Anyway thanks for taking the time to read my post and any help would be much appreciated .
Shahpur ( tonewoodmusic)

Teahfc

Get an accountant late return will cost £100.00 ...

snowcat75

I assume you are keeping a basic set of books, or running sage or an equivalent, If so an accountant should be able to file a return PDQ, however I already have my HMRC Christmas card for January payment:(.

Edit: just read you havent.

You have got to start getting your books under control yourself tho, If you don't for all you know your spending twice as much as your taking, Its the downfall of so many start up business.

shap101

thanks for the information , if i started the business in Feb 2013 do i need to the submit this January ?

also any idea on when i can start looking for an accountant as it can be an mine field if you do not know what you looking for .
thanks
again

morgani

Yes if you started trading in Feb 13 then you will need to do a return for the period up to 5 April 13 by 31 jan 14.

Self assessment is something you can do yourself but many do use an accountant for many different reasons from a lack of time to a lack of know how or simply cannot be bothered themselves.
It should not be too costly for just a month or so of self employment but there will be some cost for tidying things up. Then there will be dealing with your income from prior to this I.e. employment from your p45.

As for finding an accountant asking others who you know and are in business if they would recommend theirs is a good start if not then have a look on the Internet. Either way make sure you speak to a few to get an idea of fees and what they are like as a firm. Also remember that some firms do not take on work this late due to existing clients and the lack of time. Personally I do for the right type of client. This year my workload for January is not too bad so may take on the odd few but it's not always like this.

Also most accountants won't be back in the office until after new year.

Best of luck

chrismac1

With your type of business by far the likeliest HMRC challenge is that not all of your income is being recorded. Assuming you are using Paypal or similar, these products enable you to do a data dump to Excel.

Strip out any transfers in from the "ins" column and that is your sales line. Paypal fees go in as expenses, and also be sure to take account of any translation losses on foreign currencies as the standard Paypal rates are rip-offs.

If you are keeping records like this, plus a spreadsheet or similar record of other expenses you can legitimately claim as business such as software, bank charges, stationery and postage then a fee in the range £250 to £350 plus VAT is about the norm. This assumes just a bit of PAYE income to add in to the self-employment, no rental property income or foreign tax issues or any other complexities.

In my view decent accountants are not snowed under in January. This is because they are able to manage their client base in such a way that they don't have loads of clients swamping them with poor quality information in January.

I'm happy to talk things over on the phone with you, I am sure the previous poster is too. A good local accountant you have met is in my view always better than a good remote one. But depending on your location it might be tricky to find a good local who can deliver the goods in the next month.

shap101

Thanks again for the information . I do use Paypal as my main method of payment so i will spend the next 4 days trying to get everything in order . I have Excel but do not have any experience using it ( will try an search out an template to help) .

I forgot to mention that i am in Birmingham which may help in looking for an accountant .

I really appreciate you advice and taking the time answer my questions .

Happy New Year to you all
shahpur

shap101

Hi just to confirm will i only need to submit my Feb 2013 to April the 5th 2013 for this tax year by the 31st of January?

Davide123

shap101 wrote: »

Hi just to confirm will i only need to submit my Feb 2013 to April the 5th 2013 for this tax year by the 31st of January?

You will need to submit something by 31 jan 2014.

Likely it will be feb to 5 April 13, but s/e people can choose different year ends from the tax year end. It has a cash flow benefit.

Discuss with accountant ?

jimmo

It may be important for you to bear in mind that by 31 January you are required to submit your Return and pay any tax due.
I see that you notified HMRC when your business commenced. Presumably you have a UTR (10 digits) but have you registered for on-line filing of Returns? Do you have a password?
If not, do it now.
https://online.hmrc.gov.uk/registration/individual
When did you make your first sale? If that was on or after 6 April 2013 that will be a strong indicator that you started trading in 2013/14, not 2012/13.
If that is the case you would be completely justified is submitting a “nil business profits” Return for 2012/13 but you still have to submit your Return by 31 January.
If your first sale was before 6 April 2013 you definitely need to determine your taxable profits for the year ended 5 April 2013 but you could buy yourself a bit of time by completing your Return with provisional figures. That would avoid the initial £100 penalty for a late Return and, provided you pitch it right and pay up more than the eventual tax bill, avoid any late payment sanctions.
That would then buy you some time to find an accountant you are happy with but you can‘t, realistically, expect to get a worthwhile recommendation on a forum. You have to find somebody you like and trust and make your own decision.
You still have time to sort yourself out with a bit of joined up thinking but, for goodness sake, don’t take that as a licence to prevaricate any further. January may not be the best time to look for a new accountant. February could be a lot better.

shap101

Just filled all my details into an Excel worksheet i brought from ebay , it has calculated that for the 2 months 6500 is turnover but is says the total profit - 4000 as this is the amount that i have in stock ?

How does this work in an tax context ?

I am using the SA form which is pretty straight forward as i only have 2 months to complete but will definitely be looking for an accountant in the new year for my yearly report.