Self assessment help

Cookie261002

Hi, hoping to get some advice on filling in a self assessment. I have been completing my own for a few years but this years has proven tricky.

My income is lower than usual due to being off work for 3 months, so normally claiming back the full cost of a car (I'm a driving instructor) on the tax year that I purchased it would be easiest, but I'm not sure that's the case this year as my profit is only £15,000 and the car cost £8,200. So by the time I take off my tax free earnings it only leaves £3000. But I am struggling to find whether spreading the cost over numerous years would benefit at all. Especially if purchasing a new car in a few more years time. In addition to this, I also sold my old car (that I had claimed on my first self assessment when starting my business), so do I need to log the money I received from selling the car as income, or do I subtract it from the cost of the new car I wish to claim?

Thank you in advance

eskbanker

That sounds more like an accounting policy issue than a self-assessment one as such - do you have an accountant?  If not, then it would be worth studying the methods of dealing with the cost of capital items when self-employed, e.g. https://www.gov.uk/self-employed-records and https://www.gov.uk/expenses-if-youre-self-employed/travel

Bookworm225

you say you claimed the first car but do you mean as a "capital allowance"?
did the car quality for first year allowance or is it restricted to using an annual writing down allowance based on its CO2?

When you sell that car you will either make a profit or a loss against the remaining balance

If that does not make sense to you then I'm sorry but you need an accountant (who might need to review your previous claims as well)

as for the new car, which ever option you pick means that is what you must do for that car every year you use it until such time as you sell it. You cannot chop and change methods each year