Self assessment - DIY or accountant?

[B9]

I'm full-time employed PAYE and have no additional incomes apart from sub £500 per year interest on savings (which I believe is within the tax-free allowance anyway).

For the first time, I need to complete a self-assessment because we receive child benefit, and this, or a proportion of it, will need to be repaid.

I can see there are other advantages to doing a self-assessment such as claiming for the difference between my employers contribution for business mileage and the 45p rate, working from home costs, charity donations such as national trust memberships etc.

My situation is probably as basic as they come, so is this something fairly straight forward to DIY, or would you use an accountant (which I appreciate may cover their costs if they were able to identify allowances etc I've not considered). Any recommendations if so (ideally online / email / phone)

Cheers

[s111dpc]

I’m on PAYE too but have to do self assessment each year and to be honest it’s pretty straight forward So I do it myself. Just work your way through it page by page and save it if you need to get more details e.g. interest earned or dividends received.

[softtop]

very simple to do. Given your straight forward incomes, you will be done in about 15 minutes.

[The Leaper]

Very straightforward if you have collated all the relevant paperwork as it arrives through the tax year in question.

R.

[Meeten-5dulx]

It can be daunting at first, but as long as you have access to the relevant information it is OK. With so much online it is a lot easier to manage.
Perhaps start a spreadsheet to keep track so the one for the next year is easier to complete.

There are some wheezes that you may not be aware of, but they are relatively easily found online.

As said before, you can do it bit by bit and save it as you go along so you don't have to do it all in a oner... Unless you leave it till the last min!

[thebraketester]

B9 said:

I can see there are other advantages to doing a self-assessment such as claiming for the difference between my employers contribution for business mileage and the 45p rate, working from home costs, charity donations such as national trust memberships etc. Cheers

Really?

[B9]

Thanks all

thebraketester said:

Really?

Apologies if I've missed something, is the self-assessment not the place to declare these things? Their online wizard suggested it was..

[thebraketester]

B9 said:

Thanks all

thebraketester said:

Really?

Apologies if I've missed something, is the self-assessment not the place to declare these things? Their online wizard suggested it was..

Yes it is... but as your first post reads, you are not self employed.

[Eric Mc]

There are many people who complete self assessment tax returns who are not self employed. The self assessment tax return was invented to allow people, who have income or claims or circumstances that cannot be readilly handled by automatic processes, to report their situation to HMRC.

In some cases, it is the ONLY way to report such circumstances. In other situations, there are alternative ways of going about things.

[pozi]

B9 said:

I can see there are other advantages to doing a self-assessment such as claiming for the difference between my employers contribution for business mileage and the 45p rate, working from home costs, charity donations such as national trust memberships etc.

A warning about working from home costs as a PAYE employee, on the assumption you are like most people and have chosen to work from home you cannot claim tax relief for anything.

[ffc]

B9 said:

Apologies if I've missed something, is the self-assessment not the place to declare these things? Their online wizard suggested it was..

Yes it is, PAYE or not. Just have your P60, P11D and interest statements to hand and it's a 20 minute job online. (Assuming nothing complex in your finances).

Edited by ffc on Friday 19th June 21:43

Edited by ffc on Friday 19th June 21:43

[devnull]

pozi said:

B9 said:

I can see there are other advantages to doing a self-assessment such as claiming for the difference between my employers contribution for business mileage and the 45p rate, working from home costs, charity donations such as national trust memberships etc.

A warning about working from home costs as a PAYE employee, on the assumption you are like most people and have chosen to work from home you cannot claim tax relief for anything.

What about if your contract designates your home as your normal place of work?

[Eric Mc]

devnull said:

What about if your contract designates your home as your normal place of work?

It is something that has been discussed on PH many times.

The basic rule regarding claiming ANY expenses against taxable income for employees is that the expense must have been incurred "wholly, exclusively and NECESSARILY in the course of the employment".
In other words, if the employee has an OBLIGATION to pay for the expense out of their own pocket, then as long as the expense is work related, then they can claim - subject to any restrictions on certain types of expense claims - such as "Entertaining".

So, if the employee's contract states that they must work from home then the employee can make a claim for any work related expenses associated with working from home.

[Welshbeef]

B9 said:

I'm full-time employed PAYE and have no additional incomes apart from sub £500 per year interest on savings (which I believe is within the tax-free allowance anyway).

For the first time, I need to complete a self-assessment because we receive child benefit, and this, or a proportion of it, will need to be repaid.

I can see there are other advantages to doing a self-assessment such as claiming for the difference between my employers contribution for business mileage and the 45p rate, working from home costs, charity donations such as national trust memberships etc.

My situation is probably as basic as they come, so is this something fairly straight forward to DIY, or would you use an accountant (which I appreciate may cover their costs if they were able to identify allowances etc I've not considered). Any recommendations if so (ideally online / email / phone)

Cheers

The other obvious one is pension contribution if your a higher rate payer as your employer is only recovering it at 20% for you.

[Welshbeef]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Oddly enough I’ve never done this in any role at any company I’ve worked for, note I only do 4 self assessment returns each year.
Me wife and parents. Again none have this issue (well only 2 are of working age).

[drmike37]

In my experience if you’re PAYE you will struggle to recoup the cost of an accountant through Any tax wheezes they find.
I only use an accountant because they do my company accounts and there’s sometimes a better place to claim item x or y.

[drmike37]

And national trust isn’t a donation; you get something in return!!

[Welshbeef]

drmike37 said:

And national trust isn’t a donation; you get something in return!!

Well this year we have not. So £100 odd membership for the family getting nothing in return.

[Eric Mc]

Subscriptions to charities are, by and large, allowed as donations for tax relief purposes.

[B9]

Thanks for the feedback folks.

I won't bother with the WFH allowances. Too complicated. My contract of employment doesn't state anything about working from home, it's by choice (if anything, a perk).

My employer pays 25ppm for business mileage, so I've put costs incurred of the difference (20ppm X miles). I do less than 10k business miles a year.

Slightly confused with the National Trust membership.. They're a charity, why wouldn't this count? Would be good to clear this up if anyone declares currently rather than speculation?

I only have one (active) pension which I salary sacrifice into, so this is already factored into the lower taxable income.