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[Elite Pete]

Excellent, thanks for that 

I don't see myself working self employeed for the rest of my life, just for a few years to really get my house deposit fund nice and healthy.

Regarding Vat, i should be able to claim on this, as my dailey rate takes me over that amount you mentioned 

But as you say i will speak to an accountant about that, i too would need my car for work as it gets me there. So any money i could claim back on that would be brilliant.

How often can you claim for such things, is it twice a year, or just once?

Once a year you send in how much you've earned, how much you've spent which is deductable and the nice taxman will send you a bill for your income tax, stating that if you don't pay it buy such a date he will pull your pants down

Ahh so all your expenses reduce your net (taxable) income?

I am PAYE at the moment, so will it be a year from the date that ends the Tax man will come looking for me?

Not all of them, just the ones you can claim for. You can claim for a % of the home telephone, heating, electric ect if you have an office at home. You can also claim IIRC 40 pence per mile for the first 10,000 miles and then 25 pence per mile after that. There's loads more but I have (had) an accountant because they know what you can and can't claim for

[tunnie]

Sounds good to me  8-)

[dippydave]

Excellent, thanks for that 

I don't see myself working self employeed for the rest of my life, just for a few years to really get my house deposit fund nice and healthy.

Regarding Vat, i should be able to claim on this, as my dailey rate takes me over that amount you mentioned 

But as you say i will speak to an accountant about that, i too would need my car for work as it gets me there. So any money i could claim back on that would be brilliant.

How often can you claim for such things, is it twice a year, or just once?

Once a year you send in how much you've earned, how much you've spent which is deductable and the nice taxman will send you a bill for your income tax, stating that if you don't pay it buy such a date he will pull your pants down

Ahh so all your expenses reduce your net (taxable) income?

I am PAYE at the moment, so will it be a year from the date that ends the Tax man will come looking for me?

Gross income is what's taxed. Net is the income you have left afterwards. But yes, expenses reduce your taxable income and then you're sent the bill.

You can choose when your financial year runs from and until, (eg Jan-Dec or Apr - Mar) but the Revenue runs Apr-Mar. They send the self assessment forms (tax returns) out in May, want em back by end of Sep, and then they calculate the amount of tax you pay them split in half to be paid the following Jan and July! If you don't get your return in by the end of Jan you get penalised. I had that twice, no pant pulling but £100 

If you are running late with your return then the accountant is more important as they'll tell you how much tax to pay before the revenue do. As Pete says, there's a whole minefield of allowable expenses, and accountants generally know what's applicable!

Havent heard the 40p a mile thing before tho  :-/

The reason it's important to put dosh away every pay day (kinda like PAYE but going to your savings ) is because it can be over 12 months from when you earn it to when you pay tax on it!!

[Richie London]

ive been self employed since 1988, will not go on the cards unless i have to. i love the massive tax rebate every year when i do my self asesment online. accountants were charging me 350 a time for something that takes no more than 15 mins to do myself. 

[dippydave]

ive been self employed since 1988, will not go on the cards unless i have to. i love the massive tax rebate every year when i do my self asesment online. accountants were charging me 350 a time for something that takes no more than 15 mins to do myself. 

what's 'on the cards' ??

You only get a rebate if you've been paying too much. I much prefer to pay the correct amount in the first place!

I tend to pay £150-£200 to my accountant, and in mine and my father's experience, the services he offers are more than form filling. The revenue are less likely to investigate forms from your representative, and he's also a lot better at dealing with their queries. Worth every penny. Even when I wonder if I could do it all myself, he comes up with knowledge from 30 years in the accountancy world!

[Richie London]

ive been self employed since 1988, will not go on the cards unless i have to. i love the massive tax rebate every year when i do my self asesment online. accountants were charging me 350 a time for something that takes no more than 15 mins to do myself. 

what's 'on the cards' ??

You only get a rebate if you've been paying too much. I much prefer to pay the correct amount in the first place!

I tend to pay £150-£200 to my accountant, and in mine and my father's experience, the services he offers are more than form filling. The revenue are less likely to investigate forms from your representative, and he's also a lot better at dealing with their queries. Worth every penny. Even when I wonder if I could do it all myself, he comes up with knowledge from 30 years in the accountancy world!

20% tax stopped each week, deducted against my gross and expenses at the end of the year. hey presto. nice little rebate 

[Elite Pete]

ive been self employed since 1988, will not go on the cards unless i have to. i love the massive tax rebate every year when i do my self asesment online. accountants were charging me 350 a time for something that takes no more than 15 mins to do myself. 

what's 'on the cards' ??

You only get a rebate if you've been paying too much. I much prefer to pay the correct amount in the first place!

I tend to pay £150-£200 to my accountant, and in mine and my father's experience, the services he offers are more than form filling. The revenue are less likely to investigate forms from your representative, and he's also a lot better at dealing with their queries. Worth every penny. Even when I wonder if I could do it all myself, he comes up with knowledge from 30 years in the accountancy world!

I agree, I paid £250 but worth every penny

[Richie London]

mine was never under 300 quid in all the years i had one, then my sister showed me how to do it online and it saves me a bit now, mine is very simple to do and i do a few mates as well and get a drink from them when they get there rebate 

[dippydave]

mine was never under 300 quid in all the years i had one, then my sister showed me how to do it online and it saves me a bit now, mine is very simple to do and i do a few mates as well and get a drink from them when they get there rebate 

fair play mate. if you've only got simple accounts to do then the [smiley=beer.gif]s will be flowing!

I started with income from four sources, including one as an employee, so it's never been simple for me!

[tunnie]

hang on, Blonde moment here.... if the tax is payable just twice a year, that means my monthly pay packs are untaxed?  :-/

[KillerWatt]

Ahh so all your expenses reduce your net (taxable) income?

All depends on what the expenses are.
It's quite easy to rip the backside out of it (eg, some unscrupulous people will claim £45 for a pair of Levi's...when they have actually paid £3.99 from ASDA for their work jeans)....but don't think you won't get caught if you really take the piss.

I am PAYE at the moment, so will it be a year from the date that ends the Tax man will come looking for me?

Tax year begins on April 1st regardless of when you started trading for yourself.

[Elite Pete]

Ahh so all your expenses reduce your net (taxable) income?

All depends on what the expenses are.
It's quite easy to rip the backside out of it (eg, some unscrupulous people will claim £45 for a pair of Levi's...when they have actually paid £3.99 from ASDA for their work jeans)....but don't think you won't get caught if you really take the piss.

I am PAYE at the moment, so will it be a year from the date that ends the Tax man will come looking for me?

Tax year begins on April 1st regardless of when you started trading for yourself.

You still have to produce a receipt if the taxman asks to see one and I was always told I couldn't claim for clothing if its something you could wear for your personal use (ie overalls only)

[dippydave]

Ahh so all your expenses reduce your net (taxable) income?

All depends on what the expenses are.
It's quite easy to rip the backside out of it (eg, some unscrupulous people will claim £45 for a pair of Levi's...when they have actually paid £3.99 from ASDA for their work jeans)....but don't think you won't get caught if you really take the piss.

Agreed. keep it straight and there'll be no probs.

I am PAYE at the moment, so will it be a year from the date that ends the Tax man will come looking for me?

Tax year begins on April 1st regardless of when you started trading for yourself.

Indeed, I started trading in July, and ran my first year until April, then started a complete one.

However, my father runs his financial year Jan to Dec, partly because most of his trading is in December and then he can do the books in Jan, and partly because this way his financial year splits across two tax years. It helps with asset management and other financial planning apparently. He can choose when to major purchases to maximise their effect on income. :-/

Oh, and Mitchells & Butlers run their financial year Sep-Aug, probably for similar reasons!

hang on, Blonde moment here.... if the tax is payable just twice a year, that means my monthly pay packs are untaxed?  :-/

Exactly  . Probably. My cash comes to me every week and I have to self-tax.

It does depend on your situation tho, there's no one solution for everybody.

My brother is self employed through an IT agency so I think they take it off for him. Don't quote that tho as I may be wrong :-/ At one point he had to have a company where he was the sole employee - go figure!

PS KW, I modified your quote link as it went to my post on computers 

[tunnie]

Thanks 

I'll have to find out how i would be paid.

[KillerWatt]

Ahh so all your expenses reduce your net (taxable) income?

All depends on what the expenses are.
It's quite easy to rip the backside out of it (eg, some unscrupulous people will claim £45 for a pair of Levi's...when they have actually paid £3.99 from ASDA for their work jeans)....but don't think you won't get caught if you really take the piss.

I am PAYE at the moment, so will it be a year from the date that ends the Tax man will come looking for me?

Tax year begins on April 1st regardless of when you started trading for yourself.

You still have to produce a receipt if the taxman asks to see one and I was always told I couldn't claim for clothing if its something you could wear for your personal use (ie overalls only)

A receipt is a piece of pi$$ to produce, and getting over the small problem of why you had to buy Levi's instead of "George by ASDA" is also very easy.