1. Go Online
Register to file your tax return online as this is one of the quickest and easiest ways to submit the tax return that is due 31 January 2020. If you submit a paper return you needed to complete this by 31 October 2019 and that is already passed so if you haven’t registered for online tax return submission do so as soon as possible as it takes a few working days to receive your activation code. If you have submitted a tax return online before you should already be registered.
2. Get Organised!
Are you a business owner that has a year’s worth of business income and expenditure information saved in various locations. For example for those working in the beauty industry do you have some client sales information saved on a booking system, your phone calendar, or facebook messenger.
Then you have the product sales information collected on your online shop system, webpage or paypal account, spreadsheet, merchant statement, handwritten cash book or EPOS system.
Sounds pretty exhausting just reading that and we haven’t even started with the boxes of receipts that you may have for your business expenditure, bank statements that record transactions made online, email receipts, hand written notes or note book collecting your mileage to report.
We are living in a digital age and that is fantastic but the downside today with having so many options available is that it can get very messy very quickly if a business has no set accountancy process in place.
It doesn’t matter how small you are as a business the key is to get the processes in place as soon as possible. How to do this is simpler than you think but it does take consistency.
Using an accountancy software that links directly to your business bank feed and PayPal account is great and you can also benefit from using the receipt capture to snap photos of your receipts and upload the expenses to your accountancy software.
If you use a spreadsheet or manually write down your bookkeeping that is okay as long as you are consistent and do your books frequently, once a week or monthly.
I use Receipt bank with my clients as this captures the data with no need for manual entry and links directly to accountancy software to automate the process saving time and once receipts are snapped they can be thrown away!
3. Research
If you do your own bookkeeping and file your own accounts you need to ensure that you research all the available tax reliefs that are available to you to ensure that you are not paying too much tax. It is always good to speak with an accountant when you first start out as they can help to let you know what allowable expenditure you should be tracking and offer tax planning advice that is relevant to you and your business. Gov.uk has lots of information for business owners on allowable expenditure here.
Ensure that when you complete any research that you are looking at information that is recent and not an old outdated blog of fact sheet.
4. Focus
When you come to complete your tax return if points 1, 2 and 3 are satisfied then you should be able to settle down and complete your tax return in one hit.
By being organised and correctly informed you should have all your information ready to simply plug into your self assessment online with HMRC so give yourself a few hours to sit down and work through your profit and loss so that you can upload the data to your tax return with ease and without distraction.
5. Consider using an accountant
The most stress free way to file a tax return is to have somebody do it for you. An accountant can pour over your income and expense information to ensure that things haven’t been missed. The cost of using an accountant to submit a tax return starts at around £200 but the savings often made on the tax bill and time that you save often goes a long way towards this. Here at Ria-Jaine and Co Ltd we offer monthly subscription packages that start at around £50 a month for a simple tax return service that includes accountancy software and access to Receipt Bank.
Book a free call today to see how we can save you time and taxes or to read more on the benefits of submitting your tax return early see our other blog here.
Are you on facebook? Why not check out the Salon and Beauty Therapist Tax Facebook Group to see how other members survive tax season and more.
Friendly disclaimer: The information contained in this article is for guidance and information purposes only. It should not be relied upon as full and complete accounting, tax or legal advice. For specific advice relevant to your own situation please speak to Ria-Jaine MAAT or another professional direct.
Before you go..
Check out my interview with the amazing Carl Reader on The Carl Reader Show’ – Ria-Jaine Raw & Uncut.
Check out my interview with the amazing Katie Godfrey, owner of KG salon, KG franchise and Lash training academy on‘The Life Of KG’ – Guest Ria-Jaine
Ria-Jaine Lincoln is an award winning accountant ranking in the top 50 women in accounting worldwide.