Estimated tax return

[Brian Turner]

So I handed in my records to the accountants in November - they warned that it was late, but that they would do a return on the bank statement summaries I gave them for Jan 31st.

I rang yesterday - no, it won't be ready on time, and they'll send in an estimated tax return instead.

Very annoying - I really want the whole issue of my sole-trading company completely closed, but it seems it's going to drag on longer.

No idea even about fees - but even though they're only dealing with bank summaries, I have a nasty suspicion fees are still going to be pretty substantial.

At this moment in time, I feel like just going to the local tax office and going through it with them, get it over with.

[Babylon]

Brian,

Happy new year!.

It looks you don't mix with accountants well as there seems to a lot of complaints about accountants by you. I don't know why it will take more than two months to prepare your tax returns. However, I am sure there is a good reason for your accountants to say that. It could be they are snowed under with everyones tax returns.

Anyway, I am going to side with your new(?) accountant on this issue. I don't know how complex your tax situation is but trying to do it with the help of the tax office may not be very prudent. A good tax accountant can save you a lot in taxes than their fees.

Also I like to declare my professional interest here - I am a qualified accountant but do not practice.

Regards,

[Brian Turner]

I e-mailed my concerns to the accountants, but I figure it's simply an issue of being busy, but otherwise professional. Rather than prejudge, I'm going to let them proceed as they see fit - they do understand the area better than I - but I'll see how things go.

[escort]

Not very professional taking on more work than you can complete efficiently.

Just a thought

K

[Brian Turner]

I agree - it really shouldn't be the case that a company with branches around Scotland cannot handle the accounts workload. But...I feel somewhat trapped, though, because the tax situation is complicated by the fact that they are - I believe - setting up a 17-month tax year on my now defunct sole-trader company, which makes things somewhat complicated.

[Babylon]

Originally Posted by escort

Not very professional taking on more work than you can complete efficiently.

Just a thought

K

I disagree. When Brian presented the information, they told him straight-away that he was late and they will not be able to do it. If they didn't say it then I would agree with you. Brian was thus given a choice and he took a decision then and therefore shouldn't complain now. The tax work is very seasonal and therefore people cannot expect accountancy firms to ramp-up for this period only. Also it is an expert area and one cannot go an get temp help from a Job Centre either.

If any consolation, I haven't done my SA return either (not even started yet) despite telling myself each year its going to be done well in advance.

[Brian Turner]

I was told it was submited late even in November - but they did tell me the return would be done before Jan 31st, hence my concern.

[Brian Turner]

I got my estimated tax return, signed it, paid up.

What caused some concern is that I provided the accountants with overall figures for my earnings and costs.

It seems they've simply taken the result from that and charged tax at 25%.

Didn;t see any mention of my 5k tax allowance when self-employed, nor the 2k earnings at 10%.

Is that a normal omission from a tax return?

[Babylon]

Phew!. Managed to submit mine today using the IR's online tool which I found (once more) very helpful. Hopefully, there will not be any queries from the taxman and I can forget about a personal tax return for another year.

Brian, I am not sure why you didn't get the personal allowances etc but one possible explanation is that yours is an estimated tax return. Your accountants may have decided to overpay now with a view to claiming them back later.

I suggest you use the IR's software to compute the taxes to make sure that your accountants are doing what they are supposed to be doing. It is quite straight forward. The link can be found at:

www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk

Regards,

[Joyous]

Originally Posted by Babylon

Phew!. Managed to submit mine today using the IR's online tool

Joel, Joel, Joel. Once again you left it till the last minute. Thankfully the Revenue seem to have learnt from last years debacle and their site was better able to cope.



Brian

I have to agree that November is late to be submitting your papers for your tax return but I would have expected them to do better than just calculate a straight 25% of your earnings.

Regards

Joy