Help With Self Assessment

[themistry]

Hi guys,

quick question regarding the self assessment

It asks for total income dervied through a service company. Is this a red herring to try catch folks out? What did you guys put here, zero?

Advice welcome

Thanks
TM

[Bear]

Hi guys,

quick question regarding the self assessment

It asks for total income dervied through a service company. Is this a red herring to try catch folks out? What did you guys put here, zero?

Advice welcome

Thanks
TM

There's no such legally defined thing as a service company IIRC.

[Cheshire Cat]

There's no such legally defined thing as a service company IIRC.

So what goes in the box?

[pmeswani]

There's no such legally defined thing as a service company IIRC.

It depends on how you define Service Company. An Accountantcy Company can be classed as a Service Company, as they are providing you with a service.

[Bear]

Mixed advice as to what you should do - best to read all the available help and make your own judgement

A thread from earlier this year has loads of good links in it.

Have a look

[ctdctd]

I'd be interested in an opinion on this as well as I'm going to do my self assessment form soon. Period covered will include 3 months as a permie and the rest on min wage via my co.

I think I'm inclined to go with zero (or blank if it will let me) as it seems to be a very poorly designed question - bit like the P14 earlier this year!

My co answered as below on the P14 submitted earlier this year after following the discussions here and the info on Shout69.

"6 Are you a service company?
yes
Have you operated the Intermediaries legislation (sometimes known as
IR35) or the Managed Service Companies legislation?
no"

From Accountingweb - is the question legal?

From HMRC

If you have already submitted your 2007-08 Self Assessment return
If you have already submitted your 2007-08 Self Assessment tax return, you do not need to take any action as a result of these changes. There will be no adverse consequences simply because you completed (or left blank) the question in a return filed prior to today’s date.

and

Updated guidance for 2007-08 onwards
Service companies
Complete this box if you provided your services through a service company. You provided your services through a service company if:
you performed services (intellectual, manual or a mixture of the two) for a client (or clients); and
the services were provided under a contract between the client(s) and a company of which you were, at any time during the tax year, a shareholder; and the company’s income was, at any time during the tax year, derived wholly or mainly (that is, more than half of it) from services performed by the shareholders personally .
Do not complete this box if all the income you derived from the company was employment income.

[themistry]

Well,

I have filled in the field.

TM

[Archangel]

Updated guidance for 2007-08 onwards
Service companies
Complete this box if you provided your services through a service company. You provided your services through a service company if:
you performed services (intellectual, manual or a mixture of the two) for a client (or clients); and
the services were provided under a contract between the client(s) and a company of which you were, at any time during the tax year, a shareholder; and the company’s income was, at any time during the tax year, derived wholly or mainly (that is, more than half of it) from services performed by the shareholders personally .
Do not complete this box if all the income you derived from the company was employment income.

Well, I provided my services to a Client, but my company's contract was with an agency, I am not a shareholder of the agency. So, I leave it blank.

[manstein]

My accountants filled in mine for me and they put in my dividends + salary here.

I have since changed accountants (due to the last lot being totally incompetent) and gave the form to my new accountant to give it the once over and he said that he personally wouldn't recommend doing that as it could draw attention to myself but never really went any further into it as it was already submitted by this time.

After reading the page of advice the question refers you to I'm pretty sure my original accountant shouldn't have filled it in but, as I said, they were so useless it's unbelievable. I could write a book about all the mistakes they've made (and am still sorting out to this day) but I won't bore you with the details.