As from this year, I'm going to have an accountant. Up until now I've done my own tax returns, largely because on the one and only year I paid an accountancy firm which 'specialized' in pharmacists to do my books, they cost me a small fortune to hire - and nearly cost me several hundred pounds in unnecessary taxes through a couple of elementary data entry errors that took me twenty seconds to spot. I fired them, got the fees back, and did the books myself.
Now, however, things are getting messy. This year there will be employed income, self-employed income as a pharmacist, self-employed income as a writer, and I'm setting up a partnership of some sort. Writing is fiddly enough on its own as you have so many minor expenses to track, and you can 'carry forward' or 'carry back' to adjacent tax years by a process known as 'averaging'. I have a headache just thinking about that, let alone trying to work out how the partnership will work - so, accountant. It's taken me two full days to sort last year's books out, and apart from the ritual concentration music it's not something I enjoy. Besides, I should be planning this year's planting and getting some early seeds in, not scowling at my calculator.
Still, if you have to fill in a tax return the feeling of having it done and dusted for another year is wonderful - like the moment when a piece of bagpipe music finally finishes. Sadly it only lasts until the next piece of Revenue-related stupidity starts, as Scott Adams points out. Ding-dong: "We're from the IRS Adjustments Service. We've come to take your socks and shave 40% of your dog."
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Figures
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
The tax system was once of the worst things about working as a freelance journalist, writer and editor. The Inland Revenue continually insisted that I should be treated as an employee of each company I worked for—even when I did work for 30-40 companies a year, did a lot of work from home, and often one day for one company, two days for the next, one day for another and another two for the first one again. I think you have to have a brain bypass to work in the Inland Revenue.
After teens of years of self employment, I managed to escape, but I know it is going to suck me back in again soon. My accountant used to delight in working out how much my business had spent on loo rolls each year.
I never have been able to understand what motivates an accountant to get out of bed in a morning....
If you're setting up a partnership, then I think you're definitely going the right way by employing an accountant. My husband and I have run our (very small) music business as a partnership for 10 years or so. I've always done the tax return myself as it didn't require much effort - a full day of work and it was done.
This year, however, after having been badgered to do it "online" (damn Moira Stewart and her broom closet!!!) I decided to forgo my beloved paper and do it with the computer.
After registering for all the passwords, account activations and assorted widgets, I am very confused and phone the helpline for... well... some help.
Turns out that you can't actually *do* a partnership return online. You have to buy another piece of software (but they won't tell you which - that would be cheating) in order to submit it. Yup, you have to PAY for the privilege of submitting your partnership tax return.
Or get an accountant to do it.
So we're choosing the latter :-)
Death and taxes.
Science marches on so that one day we may yet get out of having to die.
But taxes will be with us always.
My wife has learned not to discuss any of them with me but just show me where to put my signature. We're both happier that way...
.....Alan.
Post a Comment