if I get an accountant to do my tax what should I expect from him?

[hatwoman]

if you pay an accountant something in the region of £150-£200 to do your tax return what exactly does he do for you? if that's not a daft question...do they give you advice on record keeping (which presumably makes his/her job easier)? do they actively chase the figures they need from you? or do you have to give them near perfect records? do they advise you about what's tax deductable and what's not? and - a connected question - what proportion of your household bills do you claim (if any) and did your accountant advise you on this?

you lot who say 31st Jan - are you sure? I phoned the IR this morning and he said 31st Oct - I said is there another date (as I too had thought it was jan) and he said no, it's changed this year. You may well all be right - but might be worth checking, if you haven't.

How strange I'm just doing my accounts now (well in fact avoiding taking a break).

If I list all my invoices/expenses monthly for the year on a spreadsheet with separate spreadsheets for the expenses should I just print off the various spreadsheets and send them to the accountant? Would it be useful to give them the excel file, so they can simply amend my figures or do they have their own system?

Cat - I do mine on excel and just print off the spreadsheets and give them to the acountant, we go through them quickly just to sort out any major expenditure but she is happy doing it that way, mine were with her at end of April [smug]

FiveGoMad - you are a goody goody and I'm most .

it did change this year, PAPER returns now need to be in by 31 October, but online returns have until 31 Jan. From hrmc website

Tax return deadlines and late return penalties
31 October: Paper returns
If you are sent a notice to complete a tax return before or on 31 July and you want to send us a paper return you must send the completed return back by 31 October.

If you are sent a notice to complete a tax return after 31 July you must send the completed paper tax return back by the later of 31 October or three months following the date of issue of the notice.

For paper returns that reach us by this date we will:

calculate your tax for you (though you can calculate it for yourself if you want)
tell you what to pay by the following 31 January
collect tax through your tax code (if possible) where you owe less than £2,000 unless you tell us otherwise.
If the paper return arrives after this deadline you'll be charged an automatic £100 penalty.

(Late Partnership returns attract a £100 penalty for each partner. Late Trust and Estate returns result in a £100 charge to the trust or estate.)

(There are a very few cases where online tax returns can't be made. In these cases the deadline by which the paper return must reach us is 31 January. See 'Deadlines for tax returns that can't be sent online' below.)

30 December: Online returns (for tax to be collected through your tax code)
If you send us your tax return online you must send it back by this date if you want us to collect tax through your tax code (if possible) where you owe less than £2,000. Otherwise you can send it to us up to 31 January.
31 January: Online returns
Where a notice to complete a tax return is issued before 31 October this is the deadline for sending back an online tax return.
Where a notice to file a tax return is issued after 31 October the deadline to send it back is three months after the date of issue of the notice.

If it arrives after this deadline you'll be charged an automatic £100 penalty.

(This is also the deadline for paper returns where there isn't the option to file the return online. See 'Deadlines for tax returns that can't be sent online' below.)

(Late Partnership returns attract a £100 penalty for each partner. Late Trust and Estate returns result in a £100 charge to the trust or estate.)

I'm certain about the dates.

whoever asked about the spreadsheets, I would love to receive the actual sheet so i can tinker with it. without being rude, lots of people don't use them properly(manually adding the columns is one thing that comes to mind! and adding them incorrectly) i'm not saying you'd do that but believe me it happens alot!

Oh and FYI it's not IR anymore, it's HMRC

(i must read my messages before posting!)

by the actual sheets i mean on disc or via email attachment, rather than a paper copy

ditto s/sheets

By WilfSell on Fri 12-Sep-08 12:58:58
Can I have permission to hijack with a question for helpful accountants on this thread (sorry hatwoman )

Me and DH own a house which was until recently lived in by his mother (who died recently) We are the mortgage payers and it is in our name; she paid no rent or maintenance.

She died in July. We have done nothing with it since but intend to rent it out. Will we have to file a tax return this year (is it April 2008 to April 2009, or 2007-2008 that people are returning now?) - you will need to file a return next year ie 2008/09.

Or do we only need to start filing returns when we are receiving an income? Do we need to even if we are making a loss each month or do we have to leave that up to the IR to decide (ie presumably we have to account for which things are allowables etc)... - yes do one even though you make no money, losses are c/fwd so if you then make profit they are offset against the profit meaning you'll pay less tax.

Do you think managing this single property justifies an accountant or can i work out how to do it myself (am reasonably numerate, IT literate and analytical...) - You could probably do it yourself

Any advice gratefully received.

i'm at it again, wilf, i've added a few comments to your post HTH

thanks eddas

a large bill?