Filing Accounts First Time On My Own Need Some Help

[Caz R Usury]

Hello please can anyone help me with a long list of stupid questions regarding filing my own accounts from tax year 2018-2019? I realise I have been paying the accountant for something i could probably do myself.

My yearly accounts are already overdue by over a month now, for the second year in a row so I need to pay a £350 fine x 2 = £750, do I just wait for them to fine me once I file it or can I name the fine myself?

Taxes

-The work tools I bought I want to claim as expenses but how can I stop them from becoming permanent business assets? is there a threshold?

-What are the chances of me getting audited for receipts?

-Is there waiving of tax-payment on all of your business expenses? And is there any limit to claimable expenses?
i.e. given the business tax rate is 19%, if I earn £10000 and accrue £1900 expenses, I become liable to pay biz taxes on the other 8100.
How about if I earn 10000 with 5000 biz expenses, do I pay tax only the other 5000?

Can I claim for expenses that were paid for with my personal debit card?

Paying myself more the tax-free allowance of 12,500 is then subject to 20% basic rate tax via PAYE, = 39% tax. So I guess I should pay myself 12,500 PAYE then take the rest as dividends?

With dividends 2,000 is non-taxable I believe, but anything over 2,000 is taxable starting at 7.5%. Is this per dividend taken personally by you? A site mentions you should only take dividends a couple of times a year to avoid attracting attention


Final 2 Questions

Can I send the completed filed account sheet by post/scan instead of doing it online?

I gave myself 10000 from the company about early 2019 but wasnt registered with PAYE, can I register with PAYE and claim it against my yearly tax free allowance? Or is it too late for that? Can I say they were taken as dividends instead?

I want to take another personal allowance of 12,500 from my company for the filing year just gone but I missed the April 1st deadline. is there any way I can still get it?

Sorry for beeing a total n00b thanks so much for your help

 

[Cloud Accounting]

You having a laugh pal?

I’d normally charge £500 just for reading through all that.

Suspect even with help on here, chances of the submission being accurate & in most tax efficient way are virtually zero.

 

[Caz R Usury]

these are the only pressing ones::

I paid 10000 into my current account circa 02/2019 but I hadn't set up a PAYE, can I still register with PAYE and put it down against my yearly tax free allowance? Or is it too late for that? Can I put it down as a dividend instead?

I want to take another personal allowance of 12,500 from my company for THIS filing year just gone which I have missed the April 1st deadline for. is there any way I can still make use of my allowance?

Can I claim for expenses that were paid for using my personal debit card?

Regards

 

[Cloud Accounting]

Are you director of a ltd co rather than self employed?

 

[Caz R Usury]

The sole director/employee of a ltd

 

[STDFR33]

With all due respect, you’re questions are so basic and you are a million miles away from getting this right yourself.

Engage an accountant. If you don’t, it’s going to cost you a lot of money.

 

[Caz R Usury]

I figured out those basics but can't edit them. My questions now are just these:

I paid 10000 into my current account circa 02/2019 but I hadn't set up a PAYE, can I still register with PAYE and put it down against my annual tax free allowance? Or must I resort to bankloan/dividend route?

I want to use my personal income-tax-free allowance and dividend allowance from my company for the financial year just gone, which I also missed the April deadline for. Is there a way to do it?

 

[Scalloway]

Did you have any other income apart from the £10,000 you took from the company?

 

[STDFR33]

If you took £10,000 out of the business into your own account and at the time it wasn’t a salary payment or a dividend, then it must have been a directors loan. Of which there are potentially tax consequences.

 

[Caz R Usury]

I had no other personal income except that.

 

[STDFR33]

I had no other personal income except that.

Makes no difference to the transaction.

 

[Caz R Usury]

Does this mean I can't register with PAYE & withdraw my tax-free income and dividends from the year just gone?

 

[STDFR33]

Does this mean I can't register with PAYE & withdraw my tax-free income and dividends from the year just gone?

Not unless you have a Tardis.

 

[Mr D]

Does this mean I can't register with PAYE & withdraw my tax-free income and dividends from the year just gone?

You can register to do PAYE now for this tax year. Nothing stopping you doing that.

The money you borrowed from the company - look into the tax implications for you. Or ask whoever advised you to borrow money from the business.

 

[Cloud Accounting]

The £10k can be treated as a directors loan to which there are tax implications but ill gloss over that for now. Your issue, as you’ve rightly identified, is potentially losing 2yrs worth of personal allowances.

Have you previously registered the business for PAYE? If so you could potentially submit an earlier year adjustment for 2019/20, Note that also risks late filing penalties.

If not, you can still pay yourself a salary up to the Lower Earnings Limit (about £5500) in any year without being registered.

Or you could wipe out the £10k by declaring a dividend in 2019/20. First £2k tax free & remaining £8k taxed at 7.5%. With last two you’re into tricky waters though as you’re effectively having to backdate decisions.

Half an hour with a decent accountant could save you a lot of money.

PS "Can I claim for expenses that were paid for using my personal debit card?" If they were genuine business expenses then yes. How you paid for them is irrelevant.

 

[Caz R Usury]

Thanks for the information.
Only took the money out at the time because it was still that tax year, and just chase up the technicalities later.
No never did register on PAYE although did receive a code for it in the post I ought to have used. I have applied for another but I'm not sure how easily HMRC would overlook their rule against backdating PAYE annual payments.
Could I instead put the first 5500 down retrospectively as the LEL or do you mention that just as a besides?
This would easily account for other ATM loans and non-receipted expenditures.
I am hoping to file the return on my own, if the payment is not a directors loan then gladly I will avoid needing to do NI forms.
Unless the 2k tax-free dividend between 8-10k will make me eligible for them

 

[sminter1st]

I really would pay an accountant again for another year or so to get you out of the situation you're in, and have you all set up properly, and then build up your knowledge slowly in each of the different areas, especially as you are running into deadlines etc. Finance is not my speciality, I'm a restaurant owner, and understand your pain about paying an accountant, but they are worth their weight in gold. Meanwhile think about taking a course or two in bookkeeping, or studying it a little, so you can take over a task at a time from your accountant. You will still be able to ask questions of your accountant to make sure you're not making big mistakes and they can check your paperwork for you and in time your reliance on them, and the money you are spending, will decrease. I've been studying bookkeeping simply because although it needs some investment to begin with, it makes long-term financial savings on book-keeping tasks but I have access to an accountant for end of year questions etc.

Please don't be offended but I really think it would be a big mistake jumping in at the deep end now without a safety float, and trying to rely on strangers on the internet who have no way to know every in and out of your situation.

 

[NicoJ]

I would second the poster above, it's not a good idea to DIY accounts when you need to ask so many questions. You also might end up paying more tax than you need to or making a mess that needs sorting out (which will cost you more than if the accountant did your year end).

If you have a code for PAYE, this suggests you have a scheme (the code is for online access to your account). If you do you might be able to file the EYU to record the 10k, in fact you might need to fule something if the scheme is active.

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

You are heading for big fall if you don't get an accountant on board
You are trying to muddle through complicated procedures and reporting processes and you have already got yourself two fines
You are not a kno0b for making mistakes
You are a kno0b for not getting an accountant on board
Hope you take note !

 

[Cloud Accounting]

If you insist on the DIY approach here is my advice but i would take with a pinch of given i don't know your full circumstances.

Firstly, its likely to be too late to register for PAYE retrospectively i.e. tax year just gone.

You could put a salary just under the LEL through your books for 2019/20 to take advantage of some of the lost personal allowance.

Or you could declare a dividend in that same year up to £14.5k with no tax at all. £12.5k would be covered by your personal allowance, next £2k of dividends tax free & anything beyond that (within the basic rate threshold) at only 7.5%.

The tricky waters I refer to are when you start backdating transactions in your books.

 

[GLAbusiness]

2 bits of advice:

1. Get an Accountant
2. Get some accounting software to do your bookkeeeping. I use FreeAgent and would recommend it, but there are lots of options, all of which are better than nothing.


I have been running my Ltd company for 22 years, and I still would not dream of DIY for my annual accounts. Bookkeeping, VAT returns, PAYE I do myself, but rely heavily on my accounting software