Freelance working in the UK and abroad, accountant?

Qualsa

Hi all,

Basically I work in film/tv(pretty new to the industry, 3ish years) and earn under £20,000/pa but I work in the UK and Ireland so have to deal with two separate tax agencies. HMRC and Irish Revenue. The film industry works on loads of short term contracts so I could work for many different employers over the course of the year. Yet I'm still taxed on each employment as if I'm earning that amount continuously throughout the year, when in reality I'm working around 30 weeks of the year, so I get massively overtaxed. For example last year I overpaid tax in Ireland by €3000 and after 4 months of back and forth between Irish Revenue and HMRC I eventually got it back.

Now my question is, because I earn relatively little should I get an accountant to just sort the whole thing out?

Would they be able to get me back more tax, like I've no idea what if any tax expenses I could claim in regards to my profession as well as having to deal with 2 tax agencies. I don't mind filling out all the forms etc. it takes a few hours to do. Just wondering if I'm missing things I can claim on, also because I'm still a UK resident letting HMRC know about work outside of the UK and taxes paid on it, so I still get NI payments. I've tried researching double taxation agreements but I found it very hard to get my head around. I've never had an accountant so I'm not even sure on how much they charge for their services.

Thanks for any advice you guys can give me!