oh god just done my tax return - going to need a bank loan!

[star1976]

Why oh why did I leave it so late???? Ah yes cause I am stupid!

Really annoys me that I know of 2 childminders who don't declare a lot of their income and pay little/no tax. Also know lots of people caring for children that are not registered and therefore not declaring any of their earnings.

Annoys me SO MUCH!
Rant over!

:(

Have you taken off every single thing thats owed to you? Its amazing how little bits and pieces add up.

My earning were just under £30,000 and have managed to get it down to £14,000. Surely there can't be anything else I can do????

Have you checked the Hmrc site to see if you've put all the things you should do?

30k wow
I have 17 children on my books all part time (2 hol only) and i earned 21k think i better put prices up i work 55hrs too

You all need to get a good accountant! My profit was £30k last year and just paid £4k tax!!!

how ahhhhpushit?

You'd have to ask my accountant that!!!

Writing off as much against tax as humanly possible and something to do with making my first trading year a 13 month year.... seriously dont ask, I have no flippin idea! But I couldve kissed him when he gave me the figure.

I pay £800 to have my accounts done but save £1000s in tax by the sounds of things. And you can write the £800 off against tax too!!!!!

I'm dreading my bill. Earnings were £33k as DH was working with me at the time so had a couple of extra children most days. Shame the bill is due at the worst possible time and almost 2 years after he stopped working with me (and without a job since apart from 3 months work!). I also hate the fact I do it all by the book yet others don't declare stuff.

I can't even get a bank loan or anything anymore so dreading reaching that final figure.

I now set aside a set amount each month so in the future should be ok (fingers crossed).

Do try what others have said and make sure you've put EVERYTHING down!

x

I am considering getting an accountant next year as I seem to be missing something!

and almost 2 years after he stopped working with me (and without a job since apart from 3 months work)

I don't know what your benefit situation is, but you could be paying about £2,000 more tax and NI than you would if you employed him or worked in partnership. PLEASE get some decent professional advice.

To get it down to £14k from £30k sounds pretty good to me. Just rack your brain for any further costs.

Also, please set aside the tax on a monthly basis so it isn't a huge dent when it needs to come out. i know a few people who have ended up in serious debt because they didn't do that.

well done for doing it legit - those people not declaring are tax evaders! They will get their comeuppance I'm sure!!

MrA - he stopped working with me in April 2010 when he had an operation meaning he'd be unable to work with me for 6 weeks and due to the way things we going (long story) I felt it was best if he just stopped working with me, especially as I had to let down some children for 6 weeks even if he stayed. He ended up with another totally different operation 5 months later so would have been out of action for another chunk of time after that too. If we were working together after the ops then yes, I would have employed him but it never came to that and it's all a long time ago now.

When calculating benefits like Housing Benefits 2/3 of a cm gross income are automatically discounted, I presume because statistically this is the amount generally attributed to legitimate expenses. When I do my return I work on the same principle so if at the end my profit is more than a third my income I presume I have missed something I could have claimed and look again! I've just filed mine and from a gross of 19K (I work part-time) I paid £266 tax
For the person paying their accountant £800 check out Brian McTernan from 'Only Childminding', an accountant in Scotland who specialises in CM accounts (nationally)as his wife is/was a CM - last I heard he was charging £75! He advertises through NCMA& in various CM mags

Bloody hell! I have an accountant and must be missing something! My "turnover" (cannot call it profit) was £24k , taxable income about £12k and tax £1800.

Oh I am sorry to hear about your DH's health problems. I hope I haven't put my foot in it too badly.

Def see an accountant! Not a CM but DP has his own business and I had a go at calculating his tax - thought we owed around 1000 pounds his first year. Thought I'd go to an accountant and see what they thought as was fully tax deductible. Cost 120 quid to go and our tax bill ended up being NOTHING! 0! Accountants know about all sorts of offsets you can apply for, small business / entrepreneur / low income etc etc etc!

It's worth the money IMO!

MrA - no, don't worry. No major health issues :) Just 2 totally different things happened near each other, that's all. He's just getting on a bit now and starting to fall apart . He's fine now, only out of work due to not being able to get a job :( He's worried his age is a problem here and although there are laws, we all know it still happens! Anyway, don't worry, no foot put in :)

AllIwant my turnover was artificially high as I received a grant to buy resources for the setting plus payment from the graduate leader fund as an EYP, part of which I am permitted to take as income & the rest spend on the setting. This made my purchases unusually high too. My normal turnover is about 12k & until last year I've never had a high enough profit to pay tax

Hi I just can not understand how registered CM manage not to declare all the income, sure they are NOT registered? Dont they have to do attendance, and give out receipts...??
Maybe I seem dumb or naive, but I just started in August so not doing my tax returns now.
I see I better get an accountant, but my problem is, I am doing food shopping for the business with my shopping, and not keeping receipts...so far I kept receipts for equipament only...

sassyminder - we do declare all our income. We would be caught out sooner or later by the tax credits people (or someone else) if we didn't. The debate is over how much can be claimed back as expenses. You certainly need to start calculating how much you spend on food for your mindees, because it really adds up over the year.

But the OP said that she know of " childminders who not declare all of their income, and I can not see how is it possible?

It is possible, but it is fraud.

maybe they get paid cash and don't issue receipts?

I get all of my payments paid directly into my back account so that it is easy to track who has paid and how much they have paid. It is then also very easy to show HMRC my earnings

This really winds me up. These people working cash in hand are able to take business from those of us who are honest, but I think it also reflects badly on their general standards and values and I wouldn't want my children being cared for by someone like that.