cost of accountant

Worried_of_wakefield

Hi all, question on behalf of my wife,
Self employed, part time always has and always will earn less than her personal allowance. Currently she has an accountant to file her ( extremely simple) accounts via a self assessment form. This costs £250 every year.
Is there a simple method of informing HMRC of her rather mundane tax affairs other than completing the self assessment form herself. I seem to remember being able to 'opt' out of completing my own self asses return when my circumstances changed.

Many thanks in anticipation

BoGoF

Worried_of_wakefield wrote: »

Hi all, question on behalf of my wife,
Self employed, part time always has and always will earn less than her personal allowance. Currently she has an accountant to file her ( extremely simple) accounts via a self assessment form. This costs £250 every year.
Is there a simple method of informing HMRC of her rather mundane tax affairs other than completing the self assessment form herself. I seem to remember being able to 'opt' out of completing my own self asses return when my circumstances changed.

Many thanks in anticipation

You couldn't have been self-employed then as they have never been able to 'opt out', in fact I doubt if anyone has but thats off topic.

Completing the return is not difficult. If her turnover is below the VAT threshold it's just '3 line accounts'. What does your wife give to the accountant to prepare the return. Are capital allowances involved?

Worried_of_wakefield

You've just answered my question boGof, she can't 'opt out' from what you say,

thanks

dont_use_vistaprint

I seem to remember HMRC used to ask you to opt out, or even opt you out themselves, if earnings were occasional or small, there was a lot of confusion on the actual amount. They have now clarified its £1,000 per year, below this they dont require self assessment

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/tax-free-allowances-on-property-and-trading-income

Why is she paying £250 for someone to do a self-assessment, it takes 10-mins unless you have complex investments

Pennywise

£250 is reasonable to pay someone qualified to do it, BUT, if things are so simple, she should be able to do it herself. Can't she just look at last years to see where the figures came from and just do the same? As long as it really is simple, with no fixed assets and on the cash rather than accruals basis, it should be within the ability of someone running their own business.

Cook_County

If the accountant is receiving £250 then after the accountant has paid VAT on the fees, the accountant will be left with income of £208.33. Out of this, the accountant needs to pay professional membership fees, professional indemnity insurance and for continuing education. What qualifications does this accountant have?

agrinnall

Cook_County wrote: »

If the accountant is receiving £250 then after the accountant has paid VAT on the fees, the accountant will be left with income of £208.33. Out of this, the accountant needs to pay professional membership fees, professional indemnity insurance and for continuing education. What qualifications does this accountant have?

I expect the accountant has many other clients, and only a small part of their income from the OP's wife will go towards the costs you list. If they aren't making a profit by charging £250 I'd imagine they wouldn't offer that service at that cost.

Pennywise

agrinnall wrote: »

I expect the accountant has many other clients, and only a small part of their income from the OP's wife will go towards the costs you list. If they aren't making a profit by charging £250 I'd imagine they wouldn't offer that service at that cost.

Of course, unless he has no other clients, a percentage of all client fees will go towards costs. He also deserves his wage for the time spent on the job.

Or are you one of those who thinks that it's all the other clients who should pay for the wages and overheads, meaning your own job should be done for beer money?

Do you think I'd get away with paying a plumber just beer money for fitting a new radiator on the basis that his other customers would be paying for his tools, van, Gas-Safe registration & training, etc?

FestiveJoy

Worried_of_wakefield wrote: »

Hi all, question on behalf of my wife,
Self employed, part time always has and always will earn less than her personal allowance. Currently she has an accountant to file her ( extremely simple) accounts via a self assessment form. This costs £250 every year.
Is there a simple method of informing HMRC of her rather mundane tax affairs other than completing the self assessment form herself. I seem to remember being able to 'opt' out of completing my own self asses return when my circumstances changed.

Many thanks in anticipation

Tell me more, please, as to how one opts out of completing a self assessement :A

Who must send a tax return

You must send a tax return if, in the last tax year (6 April to 5 April), you were:

• self-employed as a ‘sole trader’ and earned more than £1,000...

https://www.gov.uk/self-assessment-tax-returns/who-must-send-a-tax-return


:xmastree::xmastree::xmastree::xmassign:

badmemory

Are you able to get the same figures for last year as the accountant did? If you are then DIY should be easily possible. But you will need to cancel the accountants authority with HMRC. If it is for last year then leave it until it is time to do 2018/9. You do not want to be trying to do your first one in a hurry. Have you looked at the self assessment form & worked out what figures you need & more importantly do you have them?

agrinnall

Pennywise wrote: »

Of course, unless he has no other clients, a percentage of all client fees will go towards costs. He also deserves his wage for the time spent on the job.

Or are you one of those who thinks that it's all the other clients who should pay for the wages and overheads, meaning your own job should be done for beer money?

Do you think I'd get away with paying a plumber just beer money for fitting a new radiator on the basis that his other customers would be paying for his tools, van, Gas-Safe registration & training, etc?

Not sure why you're having a go at me, I was pointing out the fallacy in Cook_County's post by making exactly the same argument as you.