[NWH]

I mean lease or rent if you out right buy you get the full amount against tax in the first year though still,all I'm saying is there's not much point in keep putting it away and not spending on your business if it's in your account from the business and you haven't spent any money you'll get taxed on it that's all I'm saying.

[andyM]

When it comes to vans I would by something that's costing you 300 odd a month again it keeps the tax down as its all written off against turnover as long as you have another vehicle otherwise they'll hit you again with knocking another 25-50% tax

Again totally wrong if you want to save the most on tax then don't buy a van instead rent it or lease it, that said it still wouldn't mean its the best the best way to end up with the most money in your pocket after tax which is what all sensible self employed/ business
persons should be aiming for.

At the end of the day in my experience the outgoing costs in this business vary from trading year to trading year.
Some years you will be spending a lot other years not so much.
So in my opinion it's difficult to pin the figure as a definite for a monthly or yearly cost to be set in stone.
This type of business doesn't have expensive asset collateral to add value so it is reliable on profit after turnover to be financially successful.
None of the information provided by SeanK or NWH takes this into account and a lot of what has been said is nonsense in my opinion.   

[NWH]

Your saying the best way to end up with money in your pocket if you don't spend any money through the business you'll end up with less,I'm only saying this if you are doing enough to be able to get a newer van or poles etc. If you go a whole tax year not buying hardly anything you'll pay more tax I've proved that this year due to not being able to off set certain earnings against tax I've ended up paying more it won't happen again.

[andyM]

Your saying the best way to end up with money in your pocket if you don't spend any money through the business you'll end up with less,I'm only saying this if you are doing enough to be able to get a newer van or poles etc. If you go a whole tax year not buying hardly anything you'll pay more tax I've proved that this year due to not being able to off set certain earnings against tax I've ended up paying more it won't happen again.

Yes of course you will pay more tax.
But you will have more money in the bank (profit).

[NWH]

I'll tell the inland revenue that then shall I it's nonsense,in some cases in this job you are better off staying at a certain earning level if you go to a certain bracket and can't lose some through the business it will go down as profit coz you are not able to say through receipts etc I've spent X to get it down its a total of money earned with no expense. At a different level of business they replace anything even if it doesn't need replacing otherwise they'll only pay it in tax it means they get new equipment etc rather than give it to the taxman. It depends what your earning at the end of the day.

[NWH]

Course you won't your taxed on your profit so if you can keep it slightly down you'll pay less tax but get the benefits of having like I say new equipment etc,I've just spent a week going through it with accounts experts not window cleaners lol.

[NWH]

More expense is less profit is less tax to pay.

[Rich Wilts]

Again totally wrong if you want to save the most on tax then don't buy a van instead rent it or lease it

Wrong.

To save on tax don't work.

[Rich Wilts]

I've just spent a week going through it with accounts experts not window cleaners lol.

How much did that cost you? An accountant's time for a whole week.

[SeanK]

When it comes to vans I would by something that's costing you 300 odd a month again it keeps the tax down as its all written off against turnover as long as you have another vehicle otherwise they'll hit you again with knocking another 25-50% tax

Again totally wrong if you want to save the most on tax then don't buy a van instead rent it or lease it, that said it still wouldn't mean its the best the best way to end up with the most money in your pocket after tax which is what all sensible self employed/ business
persons should be aiming for.

At the end of the day in my experience the outgoing costs in this business vary from trading year to trading year.
Some years you will be spending a lot other years not so much.
So in my opinion it's difficult to pin the figure as a definite for a monthly or yearly cost to be set in stone.
This type of business doesn't have expensive asset collateral to add value so it is reliable on profit after turnover to be financially successful.
None of the information provided by SeanK or NWH takes this into account and a lot of what has been said is nonsense in my opinion.

Highlight what you think is nonsense yes outgoing costs will vary from year to year as will they differ when it comes to
comparing one persons to another which has already been explained above.
When starting a business plan you need to know A  How much do I need to fork out before I earn my first penny B How much of
a cash reserve/flow will I need to keep me going over the first few years until I get established and C how much is my
business going to cost me yearly to run.
Now as with all these posts you can only give out advice on the how to work this out or what it might cost if the person is in a similar position as yourself but only the op will know what its going to cost or what he will need to spend.

[SeanK]

Again totally wrong if you want to save the most on tax then don't buy a van instead rent it or lease it

Wrong.

To save on tax don't work.

Or work and don't tell.

[SeanK]

More expense is less profit is less tax to pay.

Yes but its less profit, paying tax on profit is better than not having the profit, no profit no money profit with tax some money
its not hard to work out.

[NWH]

You will have less to pay in tax coz your earning will be lower you'll put the expense down of a contractor or vehicle etc,this is all fine until you go over your particular tax bracket if you don't know when you've gone over and do your accounts it's to late you'll have to pay more for that time worked. You lot can't earn enough lol.

[NWH]

Lol what do you mean profit most of it is profit in this game that's the point surely isn't it,my point is you need to use things to claim against your earnings  because if they all of a sudden rise a lot you will get clobbered if you have no means of getting it back down again.

[NWH]

BACS and online banking is a wonderful thing but it does have its drawbacks.

[8weekly]

I would always keep my outgoings highish if your earning you'll only pay it in tax as I have found to my fault this year,if your earning well and don't have any big purchases you'll pay it in tax. If you've had a business you should know this but after you've bought equipment you'll struggle to offset things,I would keep re newing stuff to keep the tax down that would be my advise to anyone who is starting off,I think you get 18 months grace before they hit you with about 2 years worth of tax as a new business.

So you would spend a pound for no other reason than to save twenty pence ?

There's some real geniuses on here. 

[Walter Mitty]

I would always keep my outgoings highish if your earning you'll only pay it in tax as I have found to my fault this year,if your earning well and don't have any big purchases you'll pay it in tax. If you've had a business you should know this but after you've bought equipment you'll struggle to offset things,I would keep re newing stuff to keep the tax down that would be my advise to anyone who is starting off,I think you get 18 months grace before they hit you with about 2 years worth of tax as a new business.

So you would spend a pound for no other reason than to save twenty pence ?

Well, it's actually 29p by the time you factor in class 4 NI.
As for my van, I am buying it bundled in with a delivery system and some other kit incorporated into the loan, but I take your point.
As I am a lowish mileage user, I will probably have it for 7, maybe 8 years before selling on.  It will still have only done 60,000 - 75,000 miles top whack.  It's hard to say this far ahead though.  I'll have to see how my finances are nearer the time.

[andyM]

When it comes to vans I would by something that's costing you 300 odd a month again it keeps the tax down as its all written off against turnover as long as you have another vehicle otherwise they'll hit you again with knocking another 25-50% tax

Again totally wrong if you want to save the most on tax then don't buy a van instead rent it or lease it, that said it still wouldn't mean its the best the best way to end up with the most money in your pocket after tax which is what all sensible self employed/ business
persons should be aiming for.

At the end of the day in my experience the outgoing costs in this business vary from trading year to trading year.
Some years you will be spending a lot other years not so much.
So in my opinion it's difficult to pin the figure as a definite for a monthly or yearly cost to be set in stone.
This type of business doesn't have expensive asset collateral to add value so it is reliable on profit after turnover to be financially successful.
None of the information provided by SeanK or NWH takes this into account and a lot of what has been said is nonsense in my opinion.

Highlight what you think is nonsense yes outgoing costs will vary from year to year as will they differ when it comes to
comparing one persons to another which has already been explained above.
When starting a business plan you need to know A  How much do I need to fork out before I earn my first penny B How much of
a cash reserve/flow will I need to keep me going over the first few years until I get established and C how much is my
business going to cost me yearly to run.
Now as with all these posts you can only give out advice on the how to work this out or what it might cost if the person is in a similar position as yourself but only the op will know what its going to cost or what he will need to spend.

What you said about a new van shouldn't cost you more than £1500 in a year was a load of baloney!
Those figures don't stack up.

[andyM]

Your confusing start up costs with yearly running costs, example lets say you pay £10K for your van and plan to keep
it for 5 years then say after 5 years its still worth £4k, your van will have cost you £1200 per year to buy or £100 a month
now considering this will be your biggest outlay by far do you now think its going to cost you another £500 a month for everything else ?

If you were to put the 10k purchase of the van through your accounts you could do it as 10k in one year as Annual Investment Allowance.
Or as a Capital Allowance with a write down percentage of the purchase price over several years.
So on reflection of the cost of the van over several years with percentage deduction of the 10k the amount WILL NOT cost you the same every year over 5 years as you have claimed. The amount you off set against tax will be less on each consecutive year.

[SeanK]

Your confusing start up costs with yearly running costs, example lets say you pay £10K for your van and plan to keep
it for 5 years then say after 5 years its still worth £4k, your van will have cost you £1200 per year to buy or £100 a month
now considering this will be your biggest outlay by far do you now think its going to cost you another £500 a month for everything else ?

If you were to put the 10k purchase of the van through your accounts you could do it as 10k in one year as Annual Investment Allowance.
Or as a Capital Allowance with a write down percentage of the purchase price over several years.
So on reflection of the cost of the van over several years with percentage deduction of the 10k the amount WILL NOT cost you the same every year over 5 years as you have claimed. The amount you off set against tax will be less on each consecutive year.

What's tax got to do with yearly costs ? I spent between £15 and £20k in my first year does that mean my yearly
costs are between £15 and £20k, you need to think more before making silly replies like this.