Tax: Self Asessment

[Ⓩ-Ⓐ-Ⓜ-Ⓞ-Ⓡ-Ⓐ]

What a bloody palaver it is. Change address, wait 3 days, request UTR, wait 7 days, register for online self assessment, wait 7 days.

And spending at least 30 mins in a queue to speak to somebody...

Anyone else having the pleasure of Self Assessment?

 

[ILOVEBHA]

You should have got yourself an accountant and you have had over 9 months to file the return....

 

[adrian29uk]

Why not just fill in the paper version. I know its too late to submit the paper version for this tax year, but it stops the crap above.

 

[Ⓩ-Ⓐ-Ⓜ-Ⓞ-Ⓡ-Ⓐ]

Will definitely be doing paper versions if I'm ever self employed again. It's my first time doing it, so haven't been that on the ball. Thought doing it online would be a lot simpler to be honest. Whack in National Insurance Number, earnings, expenses and BANG, DONE. But all I've managed to do so far is request several different codes, listen to there call queue music and try to find someone with a fax machine to receive some other codes. PALAVER. FACT.

 

[bhaexpress]

It's a complete farce. I am registered to do mine online but as I now use a different email I can't use their system. As it is I need my UTR number (as despite requesting it for the last three years I haven't received it) and I have to call my Tax Office to get it. Thus far I have spent a fortune trying to get some basic information but from this I can only conclude that the dumbest Civil Servants work for the Inland Revenue. Tax doesn't have to be taxing but it when all the IR staff are brain dead.

 

[Ⓩ-Ⓐ-Ⓜ-Ⓞ-Ⓡ-Ⓐ]

It's a complete farce. I am registered to do mine online but as I now use a different email I can't use their system. As it is I need my UTR number (as despite requesting it for the last three years I haven't received it) and I have to call my Tax Office to get it. Thus far I have spent a fortune trying to get some basic information but from this I can only conclude that the dumbest Civil Servants work for the Inland Revenue. Tax doesn't have to be taxing but it when all the IR staff are brain dead.

Good rant.

I've managed to get my UTR faxed to me (well to my friends office, just say that you will be there personally to pick up the fax). It did take 2 phone calls and about an hour and a half of queuing though. Good luck

 

[scooter1]

After 3 years of nightmares with the on-line self assessment I opted for paying the accountant to do it. It may have cost me £100, but against the time i've wasted either on hold, or being patronised by the Inland Revenue staff, or even worse their IT support people who accused me of not being able to read or input my password in correctly, its £100 well spent - and as an expense, its tax deductable too......

 

[Ⓩ-Ⓐ-Ⓜ-Ⓞ-Ⓡ-Ⓐ]

and as an expense, its tax deductable too......

 

[bhaexpress]

Good rant.

I've managed to get my UTR faxed to me (well to my friends office, just say that you will be there personally to pick up the fax). It did take 2 phone calls and about an hour and a half of queuing though. Good luck

Sod that, I'll just download the forms, fill them in and then send them an abusive letter when they tell me yet again that I haven't submitted one. As I send it Recorded Delivery to the correct tax office they tend to shut up. I might add that I have been involved on an IT project with the IR and to call a lot of them useless wankers is an insult to useless wankers.

 

[BLOCK F]

Registered a few years back to do my self employed wife's return on line.Works an absolute treat and instantly tells one what tax is owed.I always make sure I file the return in good time well before the end date and then if you do have a query there isn't a panic/problem getting through on the phone.

 

[bhaexpress]

Registered a few years back to do my self employed wife's return on line.Works an absolute treat and instantly tells one what tax is owed.I always make sure I file the return in good time well before the end date and then if you do have a query there isn't a panic/problem getting through on the phone.

Bully for you but as I've had the nerve to change ISPs and thus have a different email address it's just too hard for their IT fuckwits to change my email.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

Bully for you but as I've had the nerve to change ISPs and thus have a different email address it's just too hard for their IT fuckwits to change my email.

Welcome to the wonderful world of outsourced IT - coming to a government department and council near you !

 

[Ⓩ-Ⓐ-Ⓜ-Ⓞ-Ⓡ-Ⓐ]

Bully for you but as I've had the nerve to change ISPs and thus have a different email address it's just too hard for their IT fuckwits to change my email.

Computer says No.

I once tried to return an item (wrong printer cartridge) to PC World in Crawley and because my address had a house name instead of a house number they were unable to process a refund.

 

[vegster]

Bully for you but as I've had the nerve to change ISPs and thus have a different email address it's just too hard for their IT fuckwits to change my email.

I agree it can be over complicated but I logged on last night for the first time in about 10 months without any problem and changed my e-mail quite easily. Tonight I will wade through loads of screens saying " Tick yes or no " "If yes go to.... if no go to... " ad infinitum and then brace myself for the shock of how much.

As an addendum, last year my " Tax Bill " was close to £5 k but after paying it I got sent a letter saying I had overpaid by about £1500. They sneakily take 2 payments, the second of which was the 1.5K which was not due til July. They then asked if I'd like it back til July ! was I really going to say "No, you keep it " !

 

[Gazwag]

What a bloody palaver it is. Change address, wait 3 days, request UTR, wait 7 days, register for online self assessment, wait 7 days.

And spending at least 30 mins in a queue to speak to somebody...

Anyone else having the pleasure of Self Assessment?

Do it 6th April and you have just over 9 months, just because the deadline is 31st January doesn't mean you have to wait until January

 

[Freddie Goodwin.]

Some good points therte, especially about not leaving it to the last week in January when millions of others are trying to do the same.

The UTR (unique taxpayer Reference) should be on all the correspondence/statements that you may have received over the years. look for 10 digits usually followed by a K (for Self assessment, geddit?). Sometimes the UTR is prefixed with a 3 digit number, which you can ignore as it's just the tax office reference.

As for the refund mentioned above, you have 2 payments on account, bearing in mind you are actually paying for a period gone by. They work on the assumption that you will do as well, or better, as each year passes so, for example, you had a tax bill of £10k based on your earnings for 2009/10 (the period of the current return). They will assume that for 2010/11 you weill also have a £10k tax bill and so will split into 2 halves, 1st due on 31/jan and the 2nd on 31/July.

These payments, as I said, are not 'in advance' as the period has gone. Should you be better and have, say, £12k in tax then the balance of £2k needs to be paid by the end jan 2012 but, should you have a bad year and only have £6k to pay then, should you leave your return until the jan, it will show a refund due.

The trick is, if you have a bad year following a good one then do your return early and those 'on account' figures will change into actual and so, instead of looking to pay £5k in jan & july you would only be looking for £3k.

Hope that makes sence and youve not been charged for this advice.

oh, and also, should you decide to submit a paper return then you risk a £100 fine as the deadline for paper returns was 31/10/10. At present the penalty will not exceed the tax so, if only £20 tax then pen reduced accordingly, if nil tax then likewise but, i believe that they are trying to scrap this and make the £100 mandatory, at some time in the future.

 

[bhaexpress]

Welcome to the wonderful world of outsourced IT - coming to a government department and council near you !

Actually I have worked on a project for ICL who run it now, that was bad enough however their predecessors were EDS (an American company) who were an utter shambles. Amongst their many discredits they managed to lose over two years worth of over 100,000 individuals tax details due to very poor (call it non existant) back up procedures. Still I have a feeling that any recruitment campaign they run asks for proof of imcompetance as a major job requirement.

 

[Ⓩ-Ⓐ-Ⓜ-Ⓞ-Ⓡ-Ⓐ]

Still I have a feeling that any recruitment campaign they run asks for proof of imcompetance as a major job requirement.

This has turned into a good rant thread

 

[Sussex Nomad]

All this is why I pay an accountant to do mine for me.

 

[bhaexpress]

All this is why I pay an accountant to do mine for me.

The ridiculous thing is that whilst I am technically self employed I use an umbrella company and all my pay is P.A.Y.E. something that the Inland revenue don't seem to understand.