Self-employed; Not eligible for government help - Self Assess or Accountant?

macgirl

I was made redundant in 2018 and have been self-employed ever since.

My first SE earnings were made in the latter few months of 2018/19 tax year, and so my non-trading income from redundancy and a rental property (shared with husband) exceeded that of my SE income. I completed a tax return, but was not eligible for the gov grant scheme. 

I did have work lined up for this year between Feb and Sept with a company I did a lot of work for last year, however the pandemic put a stop to that and so I lost my main client.

When I was employed I always used an accountant to deal with the rental income, but now am looking at ways to cut costs and wonder if I’ll be able to do self-assessment? I have Quickbooks with all receipts and invoices on there, but it is false economy to forego an accountant, what would people advise?

I know it’s “only” 300ish quid for expert advice from an accountant, but my finances have taken such a massive hit this year and so I’m looking to save every penny I can. 

Also, the grant scheme, would it make a difference to submit my accounts via self-assessment for 2019/20 and apply before the deadline, so see if I could be eligible now? I did try to submit them to my accountant in May, but they were too busy helping bigger businesses with furlough.

Thanks in advance!

Dazed_and_C0nfused

AFAIK what happened in 2019:20 has no bearing on any of the SEISS grants.

What is the turnover from your rental property?

Jeremy535897

Yes, 2019/20 is irrelevant for SEISS 1 - 3 (but it is conceivable SEISS 4 next year might look at 2019/20).

An accountant's expertise regarding property rental income is useful where you have several properties on different sorts of tenancies, or you have lots of expenses that might be capital or income and you aren't confident of splitting them. A couple of arm's length assured shorthold tenancies and straightforward expenses should be easy enough to do without an accountant.

macgirl

Thanks, it's not an empire, so I reckon I could do it. Famous last words perhaps!
Thanks again

Jeremy535897

Look back at previous tax returns and see where the accountant got the figures from. That will give a good guide, as will reading the notes to the tax return.

macman

Your accountancy fees are a legitimate business expense to be set against tax.