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Tax Returns

Has HMRC sent you your paper tax return and you have put it to the bottom of the pile in your intray?

Here is a list of deadlines you need to be aware of:

Paper tax return deadline = 31st October 2010

Online tax return deadline = 31 January 2011          UNLESS:

You owe tax of less than £2,000 and want HMRC to collect this tax in your coding, then it must be filed by 30 December 2010.

So thats the deadlines out of the way then, but what about confidence in your ability to submit them and get it correct?

Well we can all fill in forms and hope, after reading the notes, to fill in the correct amounts in the correct boxes, but do you know about all the allowances you are allowed to claim for? Do you understand depreciation and its consquences? If you own a second property, do you understand what is allowed and what is not, and what tax you have to pay what on?

Tax is a very complicated minefield, that’s why I would suggest that unless you have a very simple, straightforward, short return to do, that you get someone else to do it.

Ok, so you have an Accountant and think he should do it? Fine, but have you asked for his price on this? Unless you have an all encompassing bundle, you might find him (sorry ladies) or her, charging you silly prices ie in excess of £200 to do it.  They will (quite rightly) tell you that its just a small part of what they do for you and others and that they will charge this amount as they have to go away and make sure they are totally au fait with the latest tax laws.  So why not use someone then who is on the ball, and has a dedicated team who just work on tax returns? Sound good?

Or what if you feel you don’t need an Accountant as you have no real business, maybe, you just own a second property and collect rent etc, again, what about using a service which solely deals in tax returns and tax affairs?

FTZ  Tax are tax return specialists

I came across someone last week who was very definitely confused as to what the difference was between Accountants and Bookkeepers as he used just one to do all his accounts work.

So think of them as mother and daughter or if you so wish, father and son.

Accountants are the parents – they are the ones who specialise in analysing/reviewing/summarising and interpreting financial information, whereas Bookkeepers they are the children, who maintain the records of either individuals or business’s and input financial transactions, who then pass on this information to their parents ie the Accountants to do their bit with them.

So, use Bookkeepers (who incidentally being not qualifed to do the interpreting/analysing bit, will be cheaper) to do the recording bits of your business, then pass on this information to your Accountant who then does the best bit for you – helps you de-code the information and make sure you are doing all you can to maximise your profits.

So Accountants = Parents

Bookkeepers = Children.