I'm going to take Tosh's advice and do my own tax returns from now on.
My accountants have dropped me in it with the tax man, and it's going to cost me another £100.
When they informed me of my tax liability, and submitted their bill, I was there the next day to pay both with my card.
When I checked my bank statement yesterday I saw that their bill had been paid, but nothing for the tax man. I phoned the tax people this morning and they confirmed no payment had been received.
Phoned the accountant and they said that they don't accept card payments for tax bills, only cheques.
Why the hell didn't they tell me that when I gave them my card making it quite plain I was paying both bills? I had made the payments to the receptionist and she forgot to mention it. Great! now I will be saddled with another £100 bill for late payment.
Some say that the accountant saves them his fee plus, this may be the case with larger companies, but I don't believe it is for sole traders, especially those that submit their accounts in December and January.
They are so busy at this time that they miss things out, they forgot to put down my office pc as a new capital asset for one thing.
The tax man doesn't give us much, but they do give all the advice we need freely, that's the road I'm going down in future, if you want it done right, do it yourself.