[no way Jose]

Hi everyone
I would be very grateful to get your opinions.
I'm a sole trader earning under £24.000 ( before tax ) a year .
Using an accountant would cost me : £300+ vat .( total:£360)
I've been doing my tax return myself for the last 4 year.
Now , for my peace of mind and to make sure  no mistakes are done I'm seriously considering using an account.
In your opinion would it be worth the money?
Ps: for me spending £360 a year is not beer money but if it really was worth it then I would go along!
Thank you very much

[p1w1]

I believe having an accountant is definitely worth it as you say peace of mind. The £360 will also be tax deductible.  Try it 1 year and see what difference in tax you pay. Then you will know at least if its worth it financially, only you can decide if the peace of mind that goes with it is worth it to you.

[David Beecroft]

I'm not 100% sure but I believe an accountants bill cannot be used as a deductible expense. Might be worth checking.

[tlwcs]

It's an extra £8 a week job or one £30 a month job.
You know how much tax you currently pay and I'll bet you he'll save you.
As been said try it for a year.
Tony

[no way Jose]

Using an accountant is definitely tax detuctible.
To me using an accountant would be mainly for peace of  mind as I can't think of anything worse and more stressful than being investigated by hmrc ( an investigation takes an average a bit over 1 year!) even if originally it's due to a genuine mistake !
Many thanks for sharing your thoughts!!
It's really reassuring !
I'm definitely going to go with it!
Cheers

[Arnold Palmer]

A good accountant will save you his fee anyway. Arrange a meeting with a couple and see what they say.

[Stoots]

I wouldn't use an accountant if your goal is to save more tax

As a sole trader cleaning wimdows it isn't hard to work out what your can claim and what you can't so it won't help you there.

BUT it will give you piece of mind incase of a HRMC investigation.

[8weekly]

As a sole trader, if you have done it yourself for four years, stick with it. I seriously doubt he'll find £2,000 worth of expenses which is what it would take to break even.

[tlwcs]

I wouldn't use an accountant if your goal is to save more tax

As a sole trader cleaning wimdows it isn't hard to work out what your can claim and what you can't so it won't help you there.

BUT it will give you piece of mind incase of a HRMC investigation.

Not sure how you arrive at this Adam.
Most accountants will save you with their knowledge of how the system works. The peace of mind bit in case of an  investigation means he will charge you the earth when acting on your behalf and will come out of it by saying he only prepared the accounts to your instructions.
The National Federation of small business in their fee offer an insurance to cover accounting fees while under investigation.
This is my understanding but it might not be  100%
Tony

[colin bird]

Hi everyone
I would be very grateful to get your opinions.
I'm a sole trader earning under £24.000 ( before tax ) a year .
Using an accountant would cost me : £300+ vat .( total:£360)
I've been doing my tax return myself for the last 4 year.
Now , for my peace of mind and to make sure  no mistakes are done I'm seriously considering using an account.
In your opinion would it be worth the money?
Ps: for me spending £360 a year is not beer money but if it really was worth it then I would go along!
Thank you very much

I would say yes and yes he will save you his fee by reducing you tax bill

[P @ F]

Just looked at mine now , i have had him for 12 years (day 1) , i use him purely because i dont have a clue in the area , im sure that i could be using him more to my advantage , e.g. claiming for more than i do , i know a few people who get away with murder due to their accountants , and apparently its all above board , its knowing the loopholes and pushing the limits , i dont really want to be involved with that just to be safe , and the fact that my accountant doesnt push it makes me feel a bit more trusting of him.
I pay him £252 a year and see that he put it down as a £192 expense , therefore that has pretty much covered the outlay.
I also see that i got £156 from use of room as office , £104 for cleaning my scrims , £125 for a phone , these things i didnt even consider really .
I feel i get my moneys worth from him so im happy with that !

Rich 

[Tom-01]

Worth having a decent accountant.

Mine costs a fair bit a month but is totally worth it.

I wouldn't have been able to get our mortgage without him so more than worth it in my book.

I got lots of advice from him regarding my businesses and what I can and can't do etc.

Just do it.

[Dry Clean]

As a sole trader, if you have done it yourself for four years, stick with it. I seriously doubt he'll find £2,000 worth of expenses which is what it would take to break even.

Agree with this.

[Stoots]

I wouldn't use an accountant if your goal is to save more tax

As a sole trader cleaning wimdows it isn't hard to work out what your can claim and what you can't so it won't help you there.

BUT it will give you piece of mind incase of a HRMC investigation.

Not sure how you arrive at this Adam.
Most accountants will save you with their knowledge of how the system works. The peace of mind bit in case of an  investigation means he will charge you the earth when acting on your behalf and will come out of it by saying he only prepared the accounts to your instructions.
The National Federation of small business in their fee offer an insurance to cover accounting fees while under investigation.
This is my understanding but it might not be  100%
Tony

Surely people know what expenses they can claim? Pretty much anything that's used solely or part for business use is claimable.  A quick search online will confirm it.

Dont need an accountant to tell me what I can and can't claim it's not hard to find out yourself.

[Elfyn]

300 per year is a good price - I pay twice that. It is also an old addage that an accountant should save you his fees in tax savings - probably something started by accountants.
What you might not be aware of is that the tax structure and returns are changing fairly soon (year after next I think) and this will mean quarterly returns for everyone. 

[Dry Clean]

There's a simple test, count the fingers on both your hands, anything above ten and your either a mutant or need an accountant,

[Dry Clean]

Using an accountant is definitely tax detuctible.
To me using an accountant would be mainly for peace of  mind as I can't think of anything worse and more stressful than being investigated by hmrc ( an investigation takes an average a bit over 1 year!) even if originally it's due to a genuine mistake !
Many thanks for sharing your thoughts!!
It's really reassuring !
I'm definitely going to go with it!
Cheers

Why would it take a year to investigate a shiner on £24k a year ? seriously unless your claiming £10k a year in expenses the
chances of you ever being investigated are nil.
As long as your declaring all you earn then the only mistake you can make is to pay too much tax as they will reject expenses claims that don't qualify there and then,  listen to 8 weekly on this one.

[Perfect Windows]

As a sole trader, if you have done it yourself for four years, stick with it. I seriously doubt he'll find £2,000 worth of expenses which is what it would take to break even.

If you pay the accountant £360, you're up if he finds you extra claimable expenses of £361.

Vin

[Dry Clean]

As a sole trader, if you have done it yourself for four years, stick with it. I seriously doubt he'll find £2,000 worth of expenses which is what it would take to break even.

If you pay the accountant £360, you're up if he finds you extra claimable expenses of £361.

Vin

£361 in extra claimable expenses will save you around £80, why do people not understand what tax deductible actually means.

[Perfect Windows]

As a sole trader, if you have done it yourself for four years, stick with it. I seriously doubt he'll find £2,000 worth of expenses which is what it would take to break even.

If you pay the accountant £360, you're up if he finds you extra claimable expenses of £361.

Vin

£361 in extra claimable expenses will save you around £80, why do people not understand what tax deductible actually means.

You are, of course, completely correct.  My mistake.

Vin