Self Assessment Help

Phoenix72

Get an accountant before you give yourself a world of pain with the taxman.

To be blunt, you haven't the foggiest and an accountant will save you money in the long run.

lisyloo

thelibrarian11 said:

Ah OK, I have no idea what is normal, I think this is the problem for me and how I've ended up here, I was thinking of some neighbours who have their wives do admin work on their farms, and had just equated childcare with admin and support work - I have a really hard time understanding these things. It was my own autistic head that told me!

I'm a sole trader. Could you give me some examples of what might be something I could deduct from my tax bill, and can I keep amending it for this year as I learn what I'm doing a bit more or is it a bit 'not normal' if I keep updating it? Can you recommend me some resources or other threads on here where I can just go and learn this stuff, I would love to not be so naive about all this any more.

I think you might be confusing sole trader with limited company.
If you have a limited company then it's not unusual to have the spouse as a director(in fact more than one is encouraged in case one director dies).
A limited company could have people as secretary, mechanic etc. 
Personal responsibilities like childcare are not usually business expenses.

I don't think what other people are doing is necessarily relevant to you.
Partly because they sound like a limited company and you are a sole trader but also because they may be incorrect in what they are doing. 

Previous post is blunt but correct. 
If you get into tax evasion you could be fined or go to prison and ignorance is not a defence.
So you either need to forget it. do a lot more research or employ a professional.

Something like putting money into your pension is clearly allowed (but note the age limit).

thelibrarian11

Thanks so much for all your help, yes you're right I am trying to act as my own accountant which is a bit silly, this also is something I don't understand. I will look into getting more specific professional help, perhaps self assessment is something autism prevents me from getting to grips with at all, I'll add it to the list!