Tax Returns

I'm going to ask HMRC if they'll accept payment in bicycles

Balls. I owe them £600.

I owe them for this year as well. Bugger*2.

I owe them for this year as well

Your January payment includes your first payment on account for 2017/18. You can get that (and the second one due in July) reduced if you have reasons to think that your taxable profit in 2017/18 will be less than it was in 2016/17

Have to do my own for the first time eva this year. Quite tempted to pay someone to do it for me as the deadline is fast approaching and I have no idea what i'm doing...

Would it be wise to hand it over to a professional?

So long as you can get into the system, it's pretty straightforward. But try it sooner rather than later, if you have trouble getting in it takes a bit of time to sort out.

If your income is fairly simple, it's easy to do yourself.

Your January payment includes your first payment on account for 2017/18. You can get that (and the second one due in July) reduced if you have reasons to think that your taxable profit in 2017/18 will be less than it was in 2016/17

They want 6k for 2016-2017, and 9k (estimated) for 2017-2018.

Do I just phone them and ask to spread the pain a little?

Do I just phone them and ask to spread the pain a little?

Yes. You can ask for your payments on account to be reduced if that's applicable, and you can also ask for more time to pay the outstanding balance. As I said before, if you get a plan agreed before the end of the month you won't get charged late payment penalties but they will charge a small amount of interest, IIRC it's base rate +2%.

They want 6k for 2016-2017, and 9k (estimated) for 2017-2018.

Is the £6k they're asking for now all for 2016/17 or is it a £1.5k balancing payment for 16/17 plus £4.5k as your first payment on account for 17/18?

First one.

At what point does it make sense to use an accountant? I'm not looking forward to paying my surprise tax bill.

I would say it makes sense whenever you're turning a decent profit. I was freelancing as a sole trader for 5 or 6 years but always did my own return as it was relatively straightforward. When i went Ltd I started using my business accountants to do my personal return and it made me wish I'd used one years ago. It's only about £100 and the time and stress it save is well worth it.

I'm not a sole trader/contractor/etc, I'm an employee - but my pay is quite variable, hence my current X tax-code and the situation I seem to have ended up in of owing 6k for 2016-17 and 9k for 2017-18.

Currently on hold to HMRC to ask about spreading that 6k over 2018.

Been around 15 minutes so far. I wish I could do this via email.

Got through, need to call a different number, and now phone reception has vanished.

Given the amounts you are talking about, and the fact that PAYE should make it fairly simple for an accountant, it seems worth it to at least have a conversation and see if they can help you.

A tax code legacy of quitting my main job, increasing my previously second job, and not doing very much freelance means that I get a small but significant rebate every year (tax paid on personal allowance minus freelance). I don't intend to do any non-PAYE this year so was thinking about getting my tax code changed on my now main job (getting an extra >£100 per month to take home). But I've basically spent this year's rebate already on January sale frivolities... Not sure if this is a good thing.

Ask your HR department & payroll why they are so fucking useless at taking the correct amount of tax from your monthly payslip.

As PAYE, the most you should need to do is to use an online calculator every few months to work out what your income tax (maybe NI) should be compared to what is being deducted.

I'd speak to an accountant and also your payroll because I don't understand how the variability in your pay couldn't be sorted through a normal paye tax code. My mrs has wildly different pay from month to month due to the bonus she earns and it's all sorted automatically.

edit - just seen above that @TW has made the point far better than I have.

3% on top to spread the payment out, plus the bloke I'm talking to is going through the whole "how much can you afford, could you go to friends and family for a loan?" thing.

The maximum amount of tax you can pay through PAYE is 50% of your gross pay, if you owe more than what can be recovered, they won't necessarily do it through the payroll.
It is possible to be done over a number of years, but that is normally if it's an historic debt, not an ongoing one.

K916X is my tax code.

That adds £9160 onto your earnings for tax purposes. The X means it only looks at the earning in the period being taxed, not what you've previously earned/ paid.

Also, oof.

Most people get £11500 that they don't pay tax on, rather than additional tax.

Lol

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