Is anyone else struggling with their Tax Return?

[JoSu]

Sorry Ladies (and Gents) but I need to rant as I thought the whole tax return situation would be easier to complete but it isn't!!

I basically used an accountant right up until last tax year but for this tax year, decided to do it myself as I felt I was spending a lot of money on something which should be straight forward yes?? Apparently not!!

I work from home and am unsure where to input /how to offset a percentage of my utilities that I use for my business ie electric, oil and also where the stock take figure should go, plus depreciation of my vehicle?

I used Quickbooks accounting system which gives you most info at the click of a button.....is is just me or are accountants worth their weight in gold? My accountant I did feel, was ripping me off as I had to pursue him near the end of year and he would never be in touch during the year, so basically getting paid lots of money to complete a tax return!!

Any advice or other people's experiences appreciated as just feeling so down!!

 

[jbr]

I guess it depends on how you engaged your accountant as to if they contacted you through the year. I've had ones to just do returns and not heard from them otherwise, nor would I expect to.

Accountants fees are tax deductible, and they often find additional savings, so in my experience they are more than worth paying for, as doing it yourself is a massive pain and they save you more than they cost.

Off the top of my head, I can't remember whereabouts you input the information you're asking about, but try and look at the guidance notes, it should tell you there.

Good luck!

 

[hazelb]

I used to use an accountant , but I now do my own tax return.

I work from home and have a treatment room...but there are some points about it:

It is still classed as a 'bedroom' as I have made no changes to turn it permanently into a business room, i understood this meant I didn't have to apply for planning permission to change the use of the house to house and business premises. ( has implications for council tax). It is classed as a home office.
The HMRC then give guidance on what you can claim as expenses for use of a home office. I don't think it's much.

In my old much smaller house ( one bedroom, one treatment room one living room ) I used to class 1/3 my outgoings ( elec, gas, insurance ) as a business expense.

Sorry if that doesn't help much.....

As for the rest of the tax return, I found it really helpful to give my monthly expenses spread sheet the same headings as the HMRC use on their tax return. I also keep notes to help me decide what categories certain things fall into.
I also checked out a few of the HMRC webinars as they were helpful