HMRC

When I've had a query about whether I could claim an expense or not, I've set out the situation in the "comments" box on the tax return and asked if what I have submitted is ok. (It was).

Yes the face to face revenue offices were all closed several years ago( I was one of the officers and thankfully allowed to take early retirement when they were closing) .I can advise perhaps telephoning first thing in the morning and if you do not get the answers you need ask to speak to a manager ( all calls are recorded) and if you do not get a call back as promised advise you will send a complaint to your MP.

Oh dear. I hate that time of year. If they can’t answer the phone maybe they’re too busy to check anyway, unless the computer throws up something that looks odd, too much or too little.

Hope so anyway🙂

No, I've been doing it for years. Started when I was living overseas. But I've now got 5 different forms to fill in and I'm not sure what deductions I can claim on two of them. Hence trying to speak to a human.

It's done now, but there are bound to be errors. Previously when that's happened, I've just phoned them. But clearly phoning them isn't really an option anymore.

There used to be walk in centres, I found them really helpful but perhaps they no longer exist.

I’ve been doing Self assessment for many years now. Apart from the first year when I made a mistake I’ve found it tedious but not difficult.

Now I’m used to it it takes me about 2hrs. I do keep my own ongoing records throughout the year so all I have to do is put in the totals.

Is this your first time Gagajo. It does get easier when you know what they’re going to ant.

I have no need of an accountant as I live on a small pension topped up with savings and PAYE earnings from a part-time role. It would be good to know how to speak to a human though, for occasions such as the one when my husband got an enormous tax bill in error.

GagaJo

biglouis

Quickbooks is accounting software which you can update on a daily/weekly basis if you run a business and dont want to employ an accountant. One of my relatives is a tax accountant and has saved me a small fortune by knowing all the things you can claim for.

Yes, I think that's why I'm going to employ someone next year.

Your problems with small issues becoming a huge hassle is exactly why I use my local small accountant to do our tax returns every year. We don't have a great deal, just two personal returns plus our rented flat, but I think that what he has saved us has paid for his charges. Think of your own time as a chargeable cost, say £15 ph and suddenly an accountant is appealing

biglouis

Quickbooks is accounting software which you can update on a daily/weekly basis if you run a business and dont want to employ an accountant. One of my relatives is a tax accountant and has saved me a small fortune by knowing all the things you can claim for.

Yes, I think that's why I'm going to employ someone next year.

Quickbooks is accounting software which you can update on a daily/weekly basis if you run a business and dont want to employ an accountant. One of my relatives is a tax accountant and has saved me a small fortune by knowing all the things you can claim for.

i guess this is why people use accountants or quickbooks, whatever that is.
hear the adverts all the time on radio.
i sympathise. i wouldn't have a clue what to do.
luckily ?, i have so little income, this is not a concern for me.

I would be interested to know the trick, please.

I agree that the system is far more complicated than it needs to be, particularly for routine cases, such as PAYE taxpayers with a simple query.

Mr Dog got a tax bill for something like £200,000 when he retired. It was patently obvious that he didn't owe anything like that, and fortunately he is level headed and not given to panic. His take on it was that if he owed that much tax his employers must owe him an absolute fortune, as his salary hadn't been adjusted accordingly . All the same, he wanted to know the real situation, and finding out who to speak to and how to get through to them was incredibly difficult.

It was a mistake and I think they owed him a few quid in the end, but for anyone with a nervous disposition it could have been really worrying.