Tax Return Individual Help.

leannetonks

Hi,

I have been asked to help someone do their tax return. They are a self employed individual who has a contract to do work for a large company and gets paid monthly less paye and cis deductions.

I have never completed a tax return before however I did pass my personal taxation aat unit so although I agreed to help him (everyone has to start somewhere) I am a little apprehensive so any advice and tips would be much appreciated.

Also if he is a self employed individual does he not need a set final accounts also because he did not mention this to me?

Many thanks
:confused1:

deanshepherd

I'm not sure where to start..

I assume this is a friend of yours whom you are not charging, otherwise you are just going to be opening up a can of worms for yourself.

Yes, self-employed people need to prepare accounts and this information will go on the self-employed pages of their tax return, together with adjustments for non taxable expenses, capital allowances, CIS deductions etc.. etc..

If you are really not sure then I would advise your friend to find an accountant.

shaxxa

I think it would be worth your while going on the HMRC free workhops for the self employed before you tackle even a simple tax return.
They are quite informative and will give you clarification on the points you need to know.
I appreciate you have to start somewhere so these workshops are a good starting point.
But must echo Dean's point, only take these things on if you feel competent to do so.


Good luck

Sharon

claudialowe

My first concern about your posting is that he was paid monthly less PAYE and CIS.

It would be either less PAYE or less CIS not both - otherwise he would be being taxed twice on the same income.

I agree with Sharon about getting an accountant. If you want the experience, you do his accounts and tax preparation, and then try and get an accountant to check over your figures before submission to HMRC.

Claudia

leannetonks

Thanks for all the info, where do I find info on these HMRC workshops? I think that would be quite a good idea.

I do some bookkeeping for a local tax expert so I have decided to pass this onto him, but out of interest how did everyone else gain experience in this area? Ideally I would like to work in practice and gain some experience but due to family commitments I can only work part time and it is very difficult to find a part time job in a practice :crying:

Many thanks
Leanne.

deanshepherd

Here is the link for HMRC workshops.

You can always add to your skillset by reading forums (this one, TaxationWeb, AccountingWeb), attending courses, speaking to colleagues but none of these will replace experience gained by working in a practice.

If you cannot find a suitable job in an established firm then you could always try contacting smaller firms or 'one-man-band' accountants for some flexible sub-contract work. I use a subcontractor all the time that probably does not have the experience to go out on his own fully just yet. This time of year should be good for picking up some ad-hoc work.

The free one line listings in yellow pages will probably show you many small accountants in your area.