How Much Tax will i have to pay?

faringdon

Thanks, how long do you think it will take to complete my tax return? (considering that i dont have a limited company and throughout tax year 2025-2026 i worked mostly PAYE, but with two short sole trader contracts.)

..So may i please ask, are we talking hours, or days, or weeks?

The concensus seems to be that i wont need an accountant, (since i never had a ltd company) and anyway, i dont think i can afford one. (The money they save me by helping to offset my (total) 2 weeks in travelodge will be swallowed up by the accountant fee. The travelodge total cost to me was £499.91)

eskbanker

It's impossible to generalise about how long it takes to complete a self-assessment tax return, but much of the time is assembling all the information about your taxable income streams - once you've done that, it doesn't take long to actually key the data into the forms, although you do need to allow time for reading the relevant notes, in order to ensure that you have a clear position on, for example, what constitutes allowable expenses…

sheramber

There is no answer to that. People have differing abilities.

First thing to do is collect details of all your income sources and the amount of tax deducted in each case of PAYE.

Next read through the return to establish which parts apply to you.

The return is a multipurpose firm so some questions may not apply to you.

Read the notes that apply to each section so you know what information you need to put on the form.

Once you have done that you can start to complete the return.

You will need employment pages for your PAYE income and self employment pages for your self employed income.

You do not need to do it all at once . You can save what you have done and come back to it later.

The sooner you start the sooner it will be done.

Give yourself plenty of time.

Do not leave it to the last minute and have to rush it.

faringdon

Thanks, ive just realised that my Travelodge invoices for ~£500 have a very old address of mine on them, not my current address, as i obviously forgot to update my address on Traveiodge…so now i am doubtful that i will be able to claim for this Travelodge cost anyway? (ie offset it against tax)

Any very rough ideas how much an accountant might cost for this? I am guessing a lot of money as accountants have degrees and probably have hourly rates into the £60/hr level?

DRS1

I doubt the address on the Travelodge invoices will be at all relevant. HMRC will probably not ask you for a copy of the invoice anyway.

sherlock228

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82123402#Comment_82123402

to DIY fill out the tax return, review it, then submit it, is 1 - 2 hours. Given what you state to be your financial affairs then an accountant is a waste of money (don't forget to include any interest and/or dividends income received outside of an ISA on your return)

either you personally lived at the address on the Travelodge invoice or you did not. That is historic fact and if you did do so in the past then it remains a valid cost against your SE income. (Assuming of course the trip was purely business in the first place and not a family holiday tacked on to the stay)

Isthisforreal99

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82124001#Comment_82124001

Reading this thread, and OP's various others, I'm not so sure an accountant would be a waste of money as, putting it as politely as possible, this is clearly not op's forte.

faringdon

I have to declare interest aswell?

But you dont do that when you are on PAYE…so why when you have just done two short sole trader "gigs" in a tax year do you have to declare interest? (my total days working as a sole trader in the 2025-26 tax year were just 23 days in total, between two different companies)

Surely its only those who have a ltd company that have to declare interest?

Also, in the 2025-26 tax year, i withdrew my NEST pension and received £8488.85, but am not sure if i payed tax on that or not?…..i guess they must have taken tax?…..i cant even log in to my old NEST account any more so how do i find out?…do i have to declare that NEST withdrawal aswell?…..

Also, it looks like i am going to work out how much NIC i payed from each PAYE job….i hope the payslips show this.

Grumpy_chap

I have to declare interest aswell?

But you dont do that when you are on PAYE

Interest is taxable in the same way and at the same rates whether on PAYE or sole trader.

Everyone who is requires to complete Self Assessment needs to declare their interest. There are some thresholds below which the interest does not incur income tax (as well as ISA etc). Even if the interest does not result in additional income tax liability, the amount of income needs to be declared.

All types of income need to be declared in the SA return.

Looks like another example of why you cannot afford not to engage the services of an Accountant.

faringdon

Thanks, some of my payslips dont seem to state how much employee NI that i payed.

I am wondering how i will work this out. Do i need a P60?

Also i have a payslip for April 2025, and i dont know how much of it was up until 5th April 2025, and how much after that?

I am doing tax return for 2025-2026.

Also, i am not sure if my sole trader contracts were inside or outside IR35, so am not sure if i can claim for travelodge or not?

Whether or not i can get all the info that i need to do it properly…i might be able to get to a stage where i say "well, if anything, i will be paying more than i really owe to HMRC here, so i dont mind if my tax return is inaccurate, because at least the HMRC cannot accuse me of robbing them"…….i think that way will likely be cheaper then accountant fees…the fact that no accountant declares their fees transparently makes me think that i will be seen as a "pot" from which as much as possible should be extracted in fees.

—- —- —-In tax year 2022-2023 i actually worked as a sole trader without knowing it, because a company where i worked for 3 months simply payed me the full wages without taking out tax or NIC…….i didnt do any tax return…the HMRC just sent me a tax bill and i payed it…..i didnt get into trouble or anything…..I hadnt been aware that i hadnt payed tax….i only realised when i received the tax bill from HMRC……im in effectively the same situation now….so i bet if i did nothing, and just told HMRC how much i earned as a sole trader (£8698)…..then they would just calculate the tax themselves and send me a bill?…after all, thats what happened in 2023