Tax bill!!

[lorraine04]

Hi all. I need a few pointers with regards to things i am allowed to write off.
My friend who is also a childminder writes allsorts off and rarely has to pay tax each year. I am just preparing to close my books for this year and have earned more than last year due to having more children but what i have written off is almost the same as last year so my tax bill will be ridiculous this year. I am obviously not claiming for what i am entitled to.
Could someone please write a simple list of things i should be claiming for like cleaning products etc..as i am a little worried now :(

[Kiddleywinks]

If you haven't already, have a look at this:

http://www.childmindinghelp.co.uk/freeresources/Free%20downloads/Resources/Tax%20information.pdf

There's no such thing as a 'simple' list when it comes to accounts unfortunately :laughing:
Every business is different, and as such everyone's amounts for things will be different.

Don't forget too, if you find you have tax to pay for this financial year (2012 - 2013) it doesn't need to be paid in full till January 2014

[zippy]

Have you bought any old toys off your kids, mine both moved up to full time education this year, I was shocked when I wrote a list of all the toys I have now taken out of their rooms and only use for childminding has added up to a fair bit and I have been very conservative about what they are worth, only paying what I think I'd get for them on ebay and never more than half retail price, it's surprising how it all adds up.

[bunyip]

Hi Lorriane, :waving:

(With apologies to those members who've seen me copy/paste this before from my archive of stock answers :D ) ..................

Call the HMRC Business Education & Support Team on 0114 29 69 431. Ask them to send you a free copy of "Childminders - information about tax and National Insurance 2012-13". Then make a note in your diary to get the new version before doing your next tax return. This helps with most areas of tax and NI.

Remember that HMRC are notoriously bad at answering the phone, especially at times of peak enquiries. Those are:-

April (end of tax year)
October (crisis point for paper self-assessments)
January (crisis point for online self-assessment)


So it's worth delaying a few weeks, just so long as you're not one of life's procrastinators who puts something off then never comes back to them. Make a diary note to deal with it in a few weeks when there's less pressure on the HMRC phone lines, and they'll have more time for you then. :thumbsup:

[lorraine04]

Yeah i have used quite a few toys from my sons room but didnt realize i could buy them for my business so thanks for that. i just never know whats acceptable or not so i end up not writing it down in the accounts book, hence the reason why im going to have a huge tax bill. Looks like a i have a bit of bedtime reading to do. Thanks everyone.

[Dilly Daydream]

Can we really 'buy back'? I have used various old toys from DD that she no longer plays with. Plus I am currently using her old pushchair for business use only. Just checked on eBay for the pushchair and the same ones are selling for between 75 and 100 pounds. I am expecting but have bought baby a new travel system for when it arrives so the old pushchair will be put away for when I return to work - if I can put that through the books somehow that would be great.
If we can do this I need to re look at my books as I have almost completed them for this year.

[zippy]

Can we really 'buy back'? I have used various old toys from DD that she no longer plays with. Plus I am currently using her old pushchair for business use only. Just checked on eBay for the pushchair and the same ones are selling for between 75 and 100 pounds. I am expecting but have bought baby a new travel system for when it arrives so the old pushchair will be put away for when I return to work - if I can put that through the books somehow that would be great.
If we can do this I need to re look at my books as I have almost completed them for this year.


Check with mr a but I think so, sure I've read it on here before, and I know when my hubby started using an accountant they were asking us to make estimates of furniture carpets and curtains we had in home office. It makes logical sense as if you didn't use them for childminding you would put them on ebay for sale and give money to son, it's just same as you going to bootsale really.

[Dilly Daydream]

Check with mr a but I think so, sure I've read it on here before, and I know when my hubby started using an accountant they were asking us to make estimates of furniture carpets and curtains we had in home office. It makes logical sense as if you didn't use them for childminding you would put them on ebay for sale and give money to son, it's just same as you going to bootsale really.

Thanks for the reply, thinking about it I am sure I had read it on here too. Just mentioned it to another minder friend and she said its just similar to buying from a car boot or whatever. Gonna sit down tonight and go through toy box. Will only do it with the stuff 100% used by mindees - daughter starts school in Sept so has well outgrown baby toys and baby books we use!

One smiley Helen, may be due a tax refund at this rate as I left employment to start minding so paid some tax whilst I was there!

Thanks again x

[MrAnchovy]

Ask them to send you a free copy of "Childminders - information about tax and National Insurance 2012-13". Then make a note in your diary to get the new version before doing your next tax return. This helps with most areas of tax and NI.

You used to be able to download that document from this site but I see the latest available is 2011/12. Never mind, you can get it from various places on the internet such as here (www.nicma.org/cms/publications/HMRC%20Childminders.pdf) and... er can't find any more at the moment.

[MrAnchovy]

Can we really 'buy back'? I have used various old toys from DD that she no longer plays with. Plus I am currently using her old pushchair for business use only. Just checked on eBay for the pushchair and the same ones are selling for between 75 and 100 pounds. I am expecting but have bought baby a new travel system for when it arrives so the old pushchair will be put away for when I return to work - if I can put that through the books somehow that would be great.
If we can do this I need to re look at my books as I have almost completed them for this year.

Yes you can, although I don't really like the term "buying back". Mind you the official term is "bringing an asset that the person acquired for some other purpose into use for the purposes of a qualifying activity" so that's even worse! The best thing to write in your accounts is "Pushchair transferred to business use at market value: £100" and keep a printout of a similar one on ebay.

Note that in theory you cannot put these through as an expense (because they are capital equipment), and you cannot claim Annual Investment Allowance either (because this is only for new expenditure, not transfers): instead you are supposed to put them into a General Pool for capital allowances; if the balance on this pool is less than £1,000 you can write it off as Small Pools Allowance. But if your expenditure on fixed assets is less than £1,000 in total noone is going to shoot you for putting it through as an expense. BUT if this reduces your profits so that you are not paying Class 4 NI you will be better off carrying the pool value forward and writing it off next year.

Sorry this is so complicated, I don't write the rules, I just have to work with them to ensure people don't pay any more tax than they should!

[bunyip]

You used to be able to download that document from this site but I see the latest available is 2011/12. Never mind, you can get it from various places on the internet such as here (www.nicma.org/cms/publications/HMRC%20Childminders.pdf) and... er can't find any more at the moment.

Gosh, well done - I searched everywhere for an online link and never found it. Do you have a link for the 2013-14 link yet?

I did hear a rumour that the Business Education Support Team was moving from Sheffield to Middlesborough, but haven't yet phoned to check. Not sure if HMRC go where the talent is, or just keep moving their offices around to provide employment in areas where there is very little. :rolleyes:

[Dilly Daydream]

Yes you can, although I don't really like the term "buying back". Mind you the official term is "bringing an asset that the person acquired for some other purpose into use for the purposes of a qualifying activity" so that's even worse! The best thing to write in your accounts is "Pushchair transferred to business use at market value: £100" and keep a printout of a similar one on ebay.

Note that in theory you cannot put these through as an expense (because they are capital equipment), and you cannot claim Annual Investment Allowance either (because this is only for new expenditure, not transfers): instead you are supposed to put them into a General Pool for capital allowances; if the balance on this pool is less than £1,000 you can write it off as Small Pools Allowance. But if your expenditure on fixed assets is less than £1,000 in total noone is going to shoot you for putting it through as an expense. BUT if this reduces your profits so that you are not paying Class 4 NI you will be better off carrying the pool value forward and writing it off next year.

Sorry this is so complicated, I don't write the rules, I just have to work with them to ensure people don't pay any more tax than they should!

Thank you. Decided its too complicated I will just use it and sell it on if and when time comes. What's the threshold before you have to pay class 4 please? Hadn't factored that in but am due tax back from employment period anyway as only just peeked over the tax allowance for the full tax year?!

[MrAnchovy]

Do you have a link for the 2013-14 link yet?

Not published yet, last year's came out in April so it might be out soon.


I did hear a rumour that the Business Education Support Team was moving from Sheffield to Middlesborough, but haven't yet phoned to check. Not sure if HMRC go where the talent is, or just keep moving their offices around to provide employment in areas where there is very little. :rolleyes:

Like nearly all government agencies, HMRC have had to cut their budgets dramatically closing a number of offices; there are more closures to come.

[MrAnchovy]

What's the threshold before you have to pay class 4 please?

£7,605 in 2012/13 - only income from self employment counts towards this of course.

[Dilly Daydream]

£7,605 in 2012/13 - only income from self employment counts towards this of course.

Thank you, my income from self employment no where near half that and won't be next year either. Will be on maternity leave for 9 months of this coming tax year.

Thanks again for your help x

[MrAnchovy]

Thank you, my income from self employment no where near half that and won't be next year either. Will be on maternity leave for 9 months of this coming tax year.

In that case it will be best to note all your capital equipment purchases and if they are less than £1,000 in total write them off using the Small Pools Allowance in 2014/15.

[Dilly Daydream]

In that case it will be best to note all your capital equipment purchases and if they are less than £1,000 in total write them off using the Small Pools Allowance in 2014/15.

Will look into that, thank you x