Accountant for tax returns - worth it?

Moley · 19 Dec 2022 at 12:01

I used a 'tax specialist' to do last years and this years returns. In reality the only 'advantage' I got from this was knowing a month or two in advance just how much extra tax I owed HMRC.

EvilRob · 19 Dec 2022 at 13:59

Thanks all. Sounds like overall probably not worth it unless self employed (I'm not).
I'm not really interested from the time/convenience point of view, just any potential tax reductions. It only takes me a few hours and the time consuming part is assembling the records which I'd still need to do even if I used an accountant.

Freefaller · 19 Dec 2022 at 14:06

I just get advice from our financial advisor as to how to minimise tax and maximise pension contributions etc.... I have to do a SA but as long as you follow the guidance it's ok. It's a faff IMO but it means I can get more pension contributions as a result.

If it were for a business even as a sole trader I'd prefer to use an accountant just for the sheer ease of it.

jamoor · 19 Dec 2022 at 14:57

taxscouts ime is good.

Freakbro · 19 Dec 2022 at 15:04

Freefaller said:
If it were for a business even as a sole trader I'd prefer to use an accountant just for the sheer ease of it.

That's mainly why my clients use me, they are busy enough with their own work and the fact most of them can't stand doing paperwork.

ChrisD. · 19 Dec 2022 at 15:08

I do an SA and the 3 I've done I've managed to screw up in some way, now I pay an accountant to do it.

Maccy · 19 Dec 2022 at 15:24

Freakbro said:
That's mainly why my clients use me, they are busy enough with their own work and the fact most of them can't stand doing paperwork.

Do you work for a company or for yourself??

Freakbro · 19 Dec 2022 at 15:36

Maccy said:
Do you work for a company or for yourself??

Myself, been self employed for about 20 yrs now. It started by just doing self assessments for friends and family while I was the accountant for a clothing company, but I got sick of the 9-5 so left the job and just started up freelance doing books for sole traders and SME's.

Freefaller · 19 Dec 2022 at 18:24

ChrisD. said:
I do an SA and the 3 I've done I've managed to screw up in some way, now I pay an accountant to do it.

Yes I got my first one wrong too. Ended up paying £3k of tax I didn't need to. Took over a year to get that £3k back... And then I had to pay half of it anyway as I had earned over a threshold for childcare hours! Still I learned a lot about it and feel fairly comfortable with the SA system now.