US tax preparation a business expense?

[northernladuk]

Is my UK personal return a business expense? .

<giggle>

[Maslins]

I agree that the filing of UK self-assessment returns by a company's accountant is technically a personal expense. I think it is a little dubious for your accountant to provide that as part of their package for which they charge YourCo Ltd, and then claim, on the other hand, that the equivalent US return preparation is not a business expense.

Their answer, probably, is that they are providing it free of charge. That still makes it, technically, a Benefit in Kind, I'd say. But I'm not an accountant and maybe there is some regulation that lets them get away with this.

The big difference between Self-Assessment in the UK and your US return is that the overwhelming majority of the work YourCo's accountant does is clearly for the company, while most (if not all) of your US return is clearly personal. That makes it a lot easier for the Self Assessment to slide by while a lot harder to justify the US return.

You're correct with all of the above really. Ie strictly the completion of a personal tax return for a contractor should be paid by the director/shareholder personally (and be a BiK if paid by the company). However in reality for the vast majority the accountant will be processing the payroll/dividends as part of their company work. Hence the personal tax completion of a contractor is a trivial bolt on, and HMRC seem happy therefore that the fee for it could be considered as close to zero so as to ignore it.

If you've got to do a US tax return of some sort, almost certainly your UK accountant won't be able to assist with this. Presumably therefore you get a US accountant to do it. They'll likely charge a fee for that, and it's very easy to see this is separate from the company work.

[Lance]

You're correct with all of the above really. Ie strictly the completion of a personal tax return for a contractor should be paid by the director/shareholder personally (and be a BiK if paid by the company). However in reality for the vast majority the accountant will be processing the payroll/dividends as part of their company work. Hence the personal tax completion of a contractor is a trivial bolt on, and HMRC seem happy therefore that the fee for it could be considered as close to zero so as to ignore it.

If you've got to do a US tax return of some sort, almost certainly your UK accountant won't be able to assist with this. Presumably therefore you get a US accountant to do it. They'll likely charge a fee for that, and it's very easy to see this is separate from the company work.

that's a different view of the level of effort required than my current accountant who quoted me for Mrs. Lance's SA.........

How much do Maslin's charge for a second director?


EDIT: Oh it's free as per http://www.maslins.co.uk/limited-company-accountants/
Well done Maslin's.

[Maslins]

that's a different view of the level of effort required than my current accountant who quoted me for Mrs. Lance's SA.........

How much do Maslin's charge for a second director?


EDIT: Oh it's free as per Limited Company FreeAgent Accountants Maslins Accountants
Well done Maslin's.

Yeah, our headline rate may not be the cheapest, but our clients virtually never get stung with extra fees. TBH it's just easier for us, get all the invoicing semi automated...and rarely get a disgruntled client.