Tax, panic and an Ungodly mess.

[GentleOtter]

I feel sick.

Dh has not kept the books or receipts properly since I did them two years ago. I found it almost impossible as I do not find it easy to work with numbers but managed to sort it out eventually.

I have just found five Tesco crates stacked full of receipts etc - it is utter chaos. Dh has not been opening letters from the tax people and although I have been trying to phone them (since yesterday) there is no answer.

Where do I start - I tried to do a crate last night but our toddler was running about causing mayhem - the other rooms are unheated and too cold to work in for any length of time.

Please can someone advise me on where to begin or how to do this?

Are you intending to meet the 31st Jan deadline?... if so I would accept to take the £100 fine and just do it slowly, accurately in your own time as you will no doubt save more than your £100 fine..although might be good to aim for end of next month .. as I think the fine increases.....sounds like a sorting job first ... would get a concertina wallet - to sort by exense type and tax year... then add them all up... and deduct from the income....do it little and often..you are not alone ... this is waht my office looks like

Oh, thank you for answering, mulranno. I was on the verge of tears to be honest.

My son came to help and took two of the crates away to sort out and I have managed half of one.

We are on weekly (?) fines..... I never knew about that as dh was always the one who was responsible for the business side of things.

There are some filing boxes and I'm slowly making progress - the entire process is like wading through treacle. I'll do a few more hours then stop for the night.

Deep breaths GO. Can you log in to your online assessment thing? Check now you have right pin etc, as if you need to request new one, itll need to be asap, and avoid (extra) panic at last minute.

Are you calling local tax office or national line? Might have more luck calling local one?

Is your DP helping too? Can you get the toddler looked after for next few days, outside of your home?

I presume you are talking about a personal tax return, not a company one? mulranno is right about getting it done before 28 Feb as there is a 5% penalty of tax unpaid at that point, however I would strongly recommend that when you have done the return, if you have tax to pay, you contact the tax office and you may be able to set up a payment arrangement to avoid fines and interest.

Sort out by category (eg income, and then expenses into sections such as rent, utilities, stock etc) and then by date.

I didn't know there were such things as weekly fines. There are daily ones but it is quite hard for the tax office to issue those - keep trying to get through until you can talk to someone, they are usually helpful, and you can always double check what they say on here.

Thank you all. I'm having a quick breather.
I think these are daily fines as it goes back to 2007 - I wish he had told me then I could have tried to help, clueless as I am.

The paperwork is down to two massive piles now and thankfully all the bills have been paid (apart from the tax one).

A silly question but does he pay a different amount as a married man with children? Sorry, but I have not a clue about tax or indeed, book- keeping.

No, married/single/children etc make no difference.