Anyone else still need to do their tax return?

[GeorgieTheGorgeousGoat]

Not just their return but the whole years accounts.

I’m fucked. I will get it done in time, they’re not especially complex, just long winded and a faff. But why do I do this to myself??

Interesting VanGoghsDog - I do get a car allowance but I also have a fuel card, so I just pay for my own private mileage at a reduced rate, deducted from salary.

So I'm not sure the rebate would apply?

I’ve submitted mine on Saturday.

Still haven’t paid though 😂

I'm toying with the idea of doing it myself.

I did it! Really quick and not complicated at all. Now I'm a bit annoyed that I've been shelling out £299 plus vat each year (only given that mine is so very simple - not downplaying the fact that for some people it will be money very well spent)

@kjhkj Brilliant! Hold on, you are charged £299+VAT for a personal tax return???

My accountant emailed on 8th April, I sent everything to her by the 10th and I knew exactly what I had to pay by the end of April, giving me 9 months to save. I'd feel sick waiting until January.
What if you haven't set enough money aside??

My husband on the other hand leaves his until January then had a melt down because he hadn't saved enough and went over the child benefit threshold so has that money to repay as well.

One thing I did note, my accountant asks for all information by 31st July and charged a premium for anyone who submits later than this, personally I applaud this, why should she work 7 days a week and really long hours because people arent organised

Hold on, you are charged £299+VAT for a personal tax return???

Yes, and my tax return is always

£8k ish salary
dividends from my company
less than £10 interest on savings.

Thats literally it.

@kjhkj And you pay separately for your limited company accounts and CT return?

@kjhkj Does your salary and dividends come from the same company? Are you paid a basic salary and take the rest as dividends?
Dividends aren't as great as they used to be, you used to get a £5k allowance tax free and that's dropped to (I think £2k) so you'd be better off taking the full £11,500 (I think for 18/19) then the rest as a dividend

And you pay separately for your limited company accounts and CT return?

Yes - corporation tax bill varies but typically about £1600 plus vat

you'd be better off taking the full £11,500 (I think for 18/19) then the rest as a dividend

Thanks I'll have a look at that for next time

Can I just say, this thread is excellent. Don't let it die, this sharing of knowledge and info is so useful! I limp through DH's returns every year, have helped someone else with theirs, but would never have bothered trying to maximise any possible tax breaks when on PAYE. I might give it a go now!

MNers are great at explaining stuff.

Absolutely, maximise what you pay yourself to the full allowance, for 19/20 that's £12,500

I think - and this is very rough maths - I should say i'm also not an accountant. I've been running my company for 5 years so my knowledge is based on that only.

If you've got a Corporation tax bill of £1,600 you must be making about £8k in profit?
If you've only paid yourself £8k salary then next year pay yourself the full £12,500 - and pay no income tax on that. That reduces your profit by £4.5k so you'd only be paying the 19% corporation tax on the remaining £3.5k profit, cutting your CT bill and you can pay yourself £2k dividend tax free, so the only tax you'd be paying (in addition to the corporation tax) is 7.5% on £1.5k. So your corporation tax bill would be cut to £665 and your personal tax bill £112 - your tax bill is less than £1k so you don't need to pay anything on account.

@kjhkj I'm guessing you use a chartered accountant. What a joke! We don't charge for personal tax returns as its all tied in with the accounts preparation, either ltd company or sole trader. If we do a tax return as a one off it's usually less than £150.

If you've got a Corporation tax bill of £1,600 you must be making about £8k in profit?

Ah sorry, that was my loose wording - I meant my bill from the accountant for my CT return was £1600 plus vat. I'm a higher/top rate tax payer (so I appreciate I shouldn't really be whinging about the accountant's bill - it's just I hadn't realised how easy it was to do it myself)

@Kjhkj I'm pleased to read that - I was a little surprised you were paying £299 for what seemed like really bad advice from your accountant!!
Also, congrats on being a higher/top rate tax payer. Sounds like you're working hard and doing well, I am to get there myself within the next 2 years :)

Just paid, phew! I am very simple for the moment, sole trader, straightforward deductions, rent, insurance, training costs etc however next year will be a different matter as I am going through a divorce so I will have to pay a tax accountant and get financial advisor and pension specialist input. However, for the next few months I can relaaaax!

I am going to read the whole thread and save for top tips for next year!

Paying the full £12.5k wage to yourself only works out better if you also have other employees. If you're "one person", then the NIC (both employee and employer) is more than the corporation tax saved. For a one person company, a wage of around £8.5k with the rest as dividends remains optimum as opposed to £12.5k and lower dividend. It's because you don't get the employer NIC exemption for a one director firm.

Did mine in October! But that's the earliest I've ever done it, and I got fined once for doing it late . I've only had to do one for about 4 years and am hopefully going back to being a PAYE wage slave in September, so won't have to do it again!

Did mine before Xmas, can't bear doing it in Jan

I'm really surprised at people who think £300 is expensive for a tax return. The company I work for wouldn't do one for less than £1200 (although I do work for a big 4 accountancy firm and the returns we do are generally pretty complicated with lots of investment income/property/big cgt transactions etc.)

I have to do mine and I can't seem to knuckle down! It's very easy, sole trader, income and expenses straightforward, but for some unknown reason I leave it this late every year.

thanks @user1497207191 I was wondering, and this also shows why accountants are needed and not randoms off the internet!!

I'm really surprised at people who think £300 is expensive for a tax return.

Unfortunately, it's a race to the bottom these days. With accountancy not being a protected/regulated profession, it's open season for any man and his dog to call themselves an accountant and set up an accountancy practice. That means prices fall, which may look good to the taxpayer, but it also means the chances of mistakes and shoddy work are higher. Of course, the big firms continue to charge the proper rates (what some people thing are high), because they usually deal with more complicated clients who need more specialist accountants.

It's like any trade/profession really. You can get an odd job man to do work in your house cheaply, but if you want a job doing properly, you choose someone properly trained/regulated like a GasSafe plumber or the equivalent qualified/regulated electrician, rather than get Joe from down the road to put in a new electric socket after he's mowed your lawn!

You have to submit a self assessment tax return if you earn over £100k, even if the tax is paid through PAYE.

I'm really surprised at people who think £300 is expensive for a tax return.

I’m not saying it’s expensive for the work involved, I’m just saying why would I pay someone (you could apply this to anything, cleaning, gardening, Ironing) to do it when I’m happy to do it myself?