Are you really good at keeping your paperwork up to date?

[peckarollover]

I must learn to be more disciplined - Im terrible for not keeping receipts etc etc

Also, can anyone point me in the direction of a list of everything that can be claimed back in tax?

I had a one to one visit from an Inland Rev business advisor the other week. They gave me a list of stuff. I'm trying to catch up with paperwork myself whilst ds is away (just having a break to check out mumsnet!! ) so will try and dig it out for you.

my aunt told me about a woman she knew who kept receipts for the newspapers she bought to cover the table during messy time!!

i am rubbish at keeping paperwork i have a pile of receipts but haven't put them in my accounts book for ages. are you with the ncma? they send you a book with it in i think.

Yeah the NCMA accounts book is really good! I have been pretty good at keeping my records up to date, but I have only been minding for 3 weeks! You can claim a % back for your gas and electricity and council tax and water rates!

jenum71 - i was good up until recently and nwo i seem to be getting so behind with it all i can't face it, must have a good look at it over the weekend.

To be honest, I felt like that too! I started looking at my accounts on Sunday and gave up, just couldnt be doing with it! Then I went back to it on Wed and it wasnt as bad as I thought!

I'm sure I wont be quite so organised as time goes by!

Diddle - Do you use the NCMA ones?

I keep all my receipts/utility bills etc in a box (when I remember), then do my tax return a couple of days before it's due in ... I loathe paperwork and am renowned for leaving it/losing it/chucking it in the bin.

Lol!

Do you claim for a lot of stuff? I am just worried about maybe claiming back too much.

I claim for loads of stuff, but all legitimate. Apart from the obvious (eg. specific toys/games for children, percentage of utility bills), also ink cartridges/paper for PC (I do newletters), games console games (even if my family use them too), parking (as well as petrol), birthday and Christmas presents for minded children plus cards and wrapping paper ... basically anything that you wouldn't have bought if you were not doing the job.

I heard of someone who claimed for her "working clothes" but not sure if this is OK. If I buy myself a coffee at a soft play session, I also claim this.

The IR checked my accounts several years ago (random check, nothing dodgy!) and they were fine with all of it. I'd bought a lot of stuff second-hand from boot sales etc. so didn't have receipts, but they were OK with that.

I keep all the receipts, for absolutely everything
Elec, Bt, mobile, tv lic,sky,water & council tax, petrol, parking, lots more...I can't think now

stamps, stationery, printer ink, computer games,books, videos, toys, newspapers/tv paper

what % of the utility bills do you include?

10% Council Tax & Water
33% elec (& gas if you have it I get for wood)
50% TV, SKY, Tel, Mob

yes you can charge for your clothes but only if you have a logo or something that you could prove you wouldnt wear in your personal time.

I'm finally getting polo shirts with a logo on them...I'm going to wear one when I go shopping to get more children

Someone told me you can claim a hooded coat up to the cost of £100 and decent walking boots if you don't use a car when doing the school run. Does anyone know if this is true?

I would say no as per my previous reply because they the inland rev dont let you claim for it because you might wear it out of work.

You could put a logo on and then you could claim.

I have to drive to do school run, but reckon I need hooded coat anyway because, as anyone who has to do a school run knows, it pours with rain the minute you stand in the playground!

And don't forget that that you can put 10% of your earnings down for "wear and tear".

jellyjelly, I think it depends on who you speak to at the revenue. My business consultant who came out the other week said you can claim percentages of things that you use at both home and for work. I.e. this coat - you could work out how much you use it for childminding and if it's about 75% of the time, then you should be able to claim 75% of the costs. That's what I was told anyway!

Seems like everyone gets told something different!

helly belly, its true, we all get told differently.
I recently went to a dinner put on by the council to celebrate childminders and got chatting to other childminders. To be honest i was shocked at what some of them use for tax purposes. One lady gets her car values every 1st April and the difference between years she claims back as depreciation!
Another lady claims 4 weeks holidays AGAINST her tax beacause legally we have to take those (her words)
I think you have to use your common sense abit. I have decided that when i takle half days for my maternity appointments and because i dont get paid by the parents for those that i will claim against tax for moneys lost. I decided this because if i was working it would be paid leave!
Another lady had had laminate flooring put right through her house and claimeed 50% of the cost and she actually made a loss last year because of this!

Also TBH i was told by my advisor that IR dont expect childminders to earn enough to pay tax anyway!!!

The fact is, most of us will probably never know if we can legitimitely claim for all these things (car depreciation!!! mustn't forget that one!) as the IR are unlikely to ever check our accounts that closely.

My accounts were checked because I was earning way more than they expected minders to earn. They didn't disagree with anything I'd put down. All I have is a single printed A4 sheet with a monthly list of things like "toddler group, advertising, food, toys" etc. and they happily accepted what I'd put in (with very few receipts). They didn't quibble with things I'd put in that I've subsequently been told you can't claim for!

Most minders probably don't earn enough to pay tax, and the rest of us just get our knickers in a twist completely unnecessarily! I know of someone else who had her accounts checked, and she was putting too high an amount down for petrol - they merely adjusted her tax demand, and everyone was happy (no smacked wrists or prison sentences at all!)

I think you're right - Theprisoner

I just put in £20K turnover this last year and had no problems with £14K expenses

Katymac you go shopping to get more children

sounds a bit child catcher

Yep - I'm very aquisitive (and a bit short of children atm)