Heeelp...tax return...can't do...please, someone...

[duchesse]

I'm filling my first grown up tax return, for the tax year 2006-2007. It should be straightforward- I didn't that much, but I just to double-check that I'm offsetting the right things.

I'm a self employed translator, and earned £7500 in that year.

I'm offsetting:
10% of bills
half of broadband connection
third of phone bill
bank and exchange charges (I do a lot of work with European agencies)
office supplies
am writing off my computer against tax- I believe 50% in the first year
occasional admin charges such as receiving faxes at our local print shop
mileage for work related stuff

That's about it. Am I missing anything?

My sister I ought to be able to offset after school activities for my children where they constitute childcare to enable me to get my work done, but I'm not sure how to evidence that.

Also, what evidence do they need of bills etc-will photocopies of household bills be enough? How do I prove what proportions I should claim of bb and telephone connections etc?

Am freaking out slightly. Am seriously contemplating getting an accountant to do this for me next year.

Thanks for any advice you might be able to shovel into my thick skull.

Childcare while you work is not a business expense but a personal one so you cannot claim it against your tax.

Have you had any contact with a Business Advisor at HMRC?

You don't need to include photocopies of anything, just a simple income and expenditure statement will do, ie a sheet of A4 with income at the top less expenses listed as phone, stationery and postage etc. You don't have to go into huge amounts of detail.

The Revenue might want to check your numbers so it pays to have your calculations as back up but they aren't that likely to check up on you at the moment. So long as you haven't earnt £7.5k and end up claiming £7.5k as expenses that is.

By the way, I would have thought that an accountant would charge at least £100 (my DH would anyway) so I would do it myself! It sounds like you have a good idea of what you are doing to me.

No, you can't claim childcare, thats what your claim for chioldrens tax credit is for, seperate process.

Ring your tax office, and check what they will allow you to claim re phone bill/broadband/household bills.

Under £15000 income, you shouldn't need to enclose any proofs or secondary paperwork, they would ask to do an inspection if they want anything.

You do know you can claim 40p per mile for mileage up to first 10,000 miles, 25 per mile thereafter?

Thanks gals. Am cr* * * ing myself that they decide to inspect in 5 years' time when I really won't remember a bloody thing...

Don't panic, they are very unlikely to.

Keep a copy of your tax return (doing it online? print your own copy). Then make brief notes on what you've claimed, just as you did in your opening post to us.
Then put them in a folder or big envelope along with your bills/receipts for what you are claiming, write on the envelope (tax return to april 2007), put it somewhere safe (thats the difficult bit), and get on with life.

In five years, they wouldn't expect you to remember, and the above is more than most people do.