Reply to: Self Assessment

[Andrew at Boox]

Don't forget to submit your GROSS dividend...

If you've got an accountant they should be able to give this to you. Just ask them to split out Net Dividends + tax credit = Gross dividend.

[psychocandy]

NW do your personal return as part of the package. Like someone said though, its fairly straightforward if its just contracting salary and dividend income anyway.

If you've got rental income/overseas investments then its more complicated. Pretty sure even NW would charge more in this case.

Currently trying to do tax return for the Mrs. Shes got her own job, my dividend income plus she runs a business as sole trader. Not easy. But accountants want > £400 to do this.

Previous years it was set up as a partnership and I did get an accountant to do a basic end of year acounts, plus partnership plus personal tax returns. But I found they made so many mistakes I ended up spending ages anyway... Mrs business only makes about £4K per year anyway so it seems a lot to spend 10% on accountants fees.

(BTW -this wasnt NW - it was a local accountant!)

[pcgtron]

I've been filling in SA tax returns myself for years (As Self Employed) before I turned myself into a Ltd company. This is my first year of being a limited company and my accountant would charge me to do my personal tax return on top of what I pay him to do my company accounts. The truth is, I don't see what the problem is. Filing my online tax return now takes me about 30 mins tops.

However, I would maybe suggest paying for the 1st year. It just happened that my father was a chartered accountant before he retired so I used to fill them in with him the first couple of years. Now I know more than him as he's been retired for 10+ years but once you've got the hang of it, it's easy

[captainham]

It isn't in mine either. I pay them to do my company accounting, it could be a reasonable assumption that personal accounting wouldn't fall in to this, but then also reasonable it will be needed and easily done so why not add it in. No strong argument either way I guess.

Are you sure it's not included? It says 'personal taxation' is included on SJD site, although I admit I didn't actually speak to them when choosing my own accountant.

[northernladuk]

I would agree with this the HMRC SA online is terrible in my opinion and the number of people i know who do it themselves and end up taking hours and kicking there computer!

If it is salary and dividends it should be straightforward.

Although why is your tax return not included within your monthly fee that you pay to your accountant ?

It isn't in mine either. I pay them to do my company accounting, it could be a reasonable assumption that personal accounting wouldn't fall in to this, but then also reasonable it will be needed and easily done so why not add it in. No strong argument either way I guess.

[Jeremiah@RHJAccountants]

Just to add, I have done an SA online using HMRC's site and I wouldn't recommend using it.

Their site makes it so much longer than it has to be IMO. Even if you will only be putting on salary and dividends.

I would agree with this the HMRC SA online is terrible in my opinion and the number of people i know who do it themselves and end up taking hours and kicking there computer!

If it is salary and dividends it should be straightforward.

Although why is your tax return not included within your monthly fee that you pay to your accountant ?

[Platypus]

Mine is just salary and dividends.

No expense re-imbursements?

[Greg@CapitalCity]

How complicated is this to complete yourself?

Its straightforward in my opinion (mind you I have done a few). Don't forget to submit your GROSS dividend + salary income in the service company income box, and if you had a P11D you'll just need to ensure you put the right numbers in the right boxes of the employment pages (using the HMRC online service can be confusing in this respect).

[d000hg]

Why not get an accountant who does this without charging extra for it

[northernladuk]

Why not pay him to do it first year? He sends you all the documentation for review, keep that and then just do it yourself forever after using his documentation as a template. £125 is pretty cheap for peace of mind to know you are doing it correctly for the rest of your contracting career. One mistake could land you with a bill for a lot more than that.

If you do go ahead and do this and get stuck you have no help except for a load of stangers on an internet forum. They don't charge anything but you likely to get an equivalent quality of help you paid for....

[Maslins]

What kingcook says.

It's fairly straight forward, but there will be a lot of questions with big words that you can ignore.

Also, don't do the n00b contractor mistake of ticking the box to say you're self employed...you're director/shareholder of a Ltd Co.

[Nathan SJD Accountancy]

Just to add, I have done an SA online using HMRC's site and I wouldn't recommend using it.

Their site makes it so much longer than it has to be IMO. Even if you will only be putting on salary and dividends.

[kingcook]

My accountant wants to charge £125.00 to complete a self assessment tax returmn. How complicated is this to complete yourself?

Get yourself a government gateway ID (or whatever it's called these days) so that you can complete SA online.

Go through it all (you can check through it all before doing a final submit). If you find yourself getting stuck might be best to pass it onto the accountant.

I've always done it myself. It's quite easy, except understanding some wordings on some of the questions (mainly around expenses and benefits for me).

[Contreras]

I find most of the effort is in collecting together the info needed* and you would need to do that even if your accountant completes the SA.

What you can do is download and print out the PDF form(s) and have a go at filling it in.

Accountant can help if you have stuff that doesn't fit nicely with HMRC's format, but otherwise by doing it on paper you have just collected together the details needed to do it online.

* like tax certificates from savings accounts or share dealing accounts, payslips/P60 from ex-permie role and other income, etc.

[TOSH1]

Mine is just salary and dividends.