2nd July 2009, 11:47 AM
Old girl I got caught short by the on account tax rip off a few years ago and I did not like it one bit. To tell the truth I would like to know the history of it as self assessment, started 1996 as I understand it and is massively expanding in numbers of people using it every year, but has not been around that much (particularly for archaeologists) and this payment on account and balancing stuff seems like a made up way to take money off people before they have worked out if they have earned (earnt) it particularly as we are still stuck with a extremely primitive and totally unfair yearly cycle accounting system (I blame Stonehenge)
I found this comment on the subject
http://www.independent.co.uk/money/tax/d...52143.html
but my only advice is that you have to basically keep a month by month reckoning of what you are going to make and keep amending that prediction on the web. Do it as soon as you submit your previous years accounts. I learnt this when I left my submission right up to January, paid my money over and my account total me that I had to pay the same amount again or get fined. I felt like signing on then and there.
I have been doing this downwards(!) prediction for the last two years and it has not been too much of a problem, where it might get interesting is that you get a massive project towards the end of the financial year and earn more than predicted, will you get spanked?
This years fun seems to be around Annual Investment Allowance and the small pools allowance, I had just got used to carrying around my allowance pool (turning any profit into something useful instead of paying tax)) and the idea of depreciation over time and spreading my costs and now it seems that I could wipe out all these expenses over night and I am not sure whether I should keep some for the up turn particularly if you are not making a taxable profit at the moment.
Where were we
Now vats and interesting subject
Now when the museums buy my swapsies off me they wont?t have to pay vat
http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPorta...e=document
And come to think of it my context sheets are works of art?
I found this comment on the subject
http://www.independent.co.uk/money/tax/d...52143.html
but my only advice is that you have to basically keep a month by month reckoning of what you are going to make and keep amending that prediction on the web. Do it as soon as you submit your previous years accounts. I learnt this when I left my submission right up to January, paid my money over and my account total me that I had to pay the same amount again or get fined. I felt like signing on then and there.
I have been doing this downwards(!) prediction for the last two years and it has not been too much of a problem, where it might get interesting is that you get a massive project towards the end of the financial year and earn more than predicted, will you get spanked?
This years fun seems to be around Annual Investment Allowance and the small pools allowance, I had just got used to carrying around my allowance pool (turning any profit into something useful instead of paying tax)) and the idea of depreciation over time and spreading my costs and now it seems that I could wipe out all these expenses over night and I am not sure whether I should keep some for the up turn particularly if you are not making a taxable profit at the moment.
Where were we
Now vats and interesting subject
Now when the museums buy my swapsies off me they wont?t have to pay vat
http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPorta...e=document
And come to think of it my context sheets are works of art?