There are so many allowable expenses you can claim to legitimately reduce the amount of tax you pay to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) every year.

This is not through tax evasion (we don’t want to end up paying penalties or behind bars!) but through creative accounting and taking tax relief where you can, which is offered by HMRC.

As a rule, you’re only allowed to claim costs for items or services you’ve bought ‘wholly and exclusively in relation to your business.

The amount you owe will vary dramatically, depending on how much profit your business made the previous tax year. Fortunately for all of us, the UK Government appreciates that running your own business can be expensive. That’s why you’re allowed to deduct the cost of some of these business expenses from your profit, thus reducing the amount of tax you owe through Self-Assessment.

At the end of the day having your accountants check what you have done will avoid you paying any penalties in the future!

With Maxwell Virtual Solutions we can help you sort and file your Self-Assessment Tax Returns starting from £240 per year.

I mean this is roughly costing your business £20 per month and is tax-deductible!

What a bargain…

To help you to start saving money, take a look at our list of Self-Assessment expenses you can claim against your tax bill – these are most of them but be sure to check anything you are not sure about with your accountant.

1. Accountants Fees including bookkeeping fees. This is a great starting point as we have already discussed how important an accountant can be to you and your business.
2. Wages, salaries and related staff costs
3. Insurance, rent, rates and power
4. Council Tax
5. Maintenance and repairs to equipment and premises
6. Car, van and travel (mileage costs)
7. Advertising and Marketing
8. Office supplies
9. Charitable donations
10. Subscription costs
11. Work-related uniform
12. Stock or materials
13. Professional fees
14. Banking and other financial charges
15. Unpaid invoices (bad debts)
16. Pension contributions
17. Pre-trade expenses

(The general rule is if you took on the expenses within 7 years of commencing business trading then they can be claimed for tax relief in addition to your normal expenses arising from doing business.)

HMRC have made it simple and easy to do your tax returns on your own online. The most obvious benefit of doing your own tax return is avoiding an accountant’s fee.

Whilst you may be more than capable of doing your own Self-Assessment tax return online in most circumstances, there are times when an accountant will be worth their weight in gold.

For example, an Accountant can:

1. give you advice on financial challenges you may face in your business
2. help you navigate through the ‘salary versus dividend’ minefield
3. bring peace of mind knowing you are doing things correctly
4. check your bookkeeping, ensuring that all sales and expenditure have been identified correctly

Deadlines

HMRC must receive your tax return and any money you owe by the deadline. The last tax year started on 6 April 2021 and ended on 5 April 2022.

And that is it…

In this blog we’ve discussed the question – do I need an accountant to do my Self-Assessment tax return?

We have found there are circumstances where you can do it yourself and save quite a bit of money in accountancy fees.

There are of course other situations where using an accountant could be very beneficial, if not necessary. You shouldn’t be afraid to give this work to an accountant if you aren’t comfortable doing it yourself, or if you have a complex return to deliver.

The overarching rule of the Self-Assessment tax returns is – to get it right!