Income Tax Self Assesment, My head hurts!!!!

[AlchemyGolf]

On April 1st I start to work for myself and earn a living from golf.
Can someone please assure me that doing your Income Tax for your own business gets easier with time.

Right now it feels like my head is going to explode.

Got a meeting with an accountant on friday who is going to talk me through self assesment and what i need to keep track of.
Really hoping I come out of that meeting with a moment of clarity because right now it all seems a little overwhelming

 

[HomerJSimpson]

My father in law runs his own driving shool and with the aid of a decent accountant, the knack of being organised in getting receipts and keeping the records up to date (not doing them a week before and looking for petrol receipts in kitchen drawers - he's been there) it will get better.

Actually you may find if you have a chat with HMRC they may be able to give you some help and advice. Believe it or not they don't go looking for the small timers making genuine errors and are normally good at trying to help these types of business

 

[medwayjon]

I do my own tax return online and find it a very simple thing to do as I keep all my paperwork in an organised, chronological system.

 

[Imurg]

To me the whole thing is flawed.

If the Notes for Guidance is 3 times longer than the form itself then there's something seriously wrong!

My Old Man does it all for me. He's a retired Tax Inspector so knows all the ins and outs and where I can claim this and can't claim that. i just give heim all the stuff and he tells me what to pay. And watch the online thing. My Dad tried this and it wouldn't let him so he had to file 30 returns on paper for the various people/organisations he helps out.

Dreading the day when i have to get an Accountant.....

 

[SS2]

It can be overwhelming, either as a sole trader or (more so) as a limited Company.

Simple rules:

1. Keep detailed records of everything
2. Be honest about your income and expenses
3. Employ an accountant

Get these three in place and then you can concentrate on making your business a success.

Good luck.

Andy.

 

[StuartD]

Simple rules:

1. Keep detailed records of everything
2. Be honest about your income and expenses
3. Employ an accountant

Isn't Number 2 where most self employed people fall over? My wife used to work in Personal Tax and some of the figures that people come up were incredible and she has seen many people investigated. At the end of the day they will come down on you and not the accountant. She used to hate December/January and is now much happier working in Corporate Tax

 

[teetime72]

I`ve used self assessment on line for years without any trouble.

The only problem is finding the bloody money to pay.

 

[Twire]

Just make sure you keep on top of everything.

With good accounts packages about for £200 there's no excuse for not keeping things up to date.

I use Quickbooks, and just give my accountant a copy at the end of the year.....he does the rest.

 

[AlchemyGolf]

Thanks for all the advice.

I am a very organised person so once I have an understanding of what i need to do it should be less daunting!

Hopefully