Late Income Tax and VAT returns

replaylite

Hi,


Just need advice on something. I am registered as Self employed . My VAT returns are Income Tax are late (Years not months, long story mainly financial).

I never made that much a year as I was a student. Max 15000 a year.

I am trying to get my tax affairs in order now and have contacted Revenue

Has anyone else had my problem and could give me some advice p[lease?

How long will sorting out my taxes take?
How large will my fine be considering I don't have that much income and is there anyway to have it waved/reduced?

Also declaring bankruptcy is not a solution and the sooner I can sort this out the better as I am job seeking and the Emergency Tax rate will eat massively into my earnings

jockey#1

Best advice is to contact an accountant if you do not have one already. They will advise you and liase with the Revenue on your behalf to mitigate your penalties!

PhoenixTax

Hi replaylite,

In order to get your tax affairs sorted you will need to get all outstanding tax returns, VAT and income tax, submitted to Revenue. The sooner this is done the sooner the matter is resolved. As interest on the underpayment of tax is added on a daily basis, this is another reason to get it sorted asap.

Interest and penalties are calculated on the basis of tax owing. So therefore you want to reduce this amount as much as possible. You need to ensure that all allowable business expenses are taken into account in calculating your taxable income. Also make sure all tax credits (e.g. service charges) and other deuctions (e.g. unreimbursed medical expenses) are claimed to reduce the liability.

In order to minimise Revenue penalties, a voluntary disclosure should be made to them. There is a specific procedure to be followed when making such a disclosure in order to avail of the mitigation of penalties. Therefore care must be taken to ensure a "qualifying" voluntary disclosure is made.

dbran

Hi

As the above have said it is better to sort this out now at a time of your own choosing or risk enforcement procedures from the sherif/revenue.

The first stage is to quantify the extent of all the liabilities which are owed.From that you can decide on how best to clear them either by installment arrangement or otherwise.

You need to take professional advise regarding this.


Kind Regards


dbran

replaylite

Thanks for the great advice so far lads.


At the moment I am sorting out my returns and am in contact with Revenue. I do plan to contact an accountant but as money as tight I will do so once my affairs are more in order.

I would believe my issue is not too complex, would anyone be able to point to any websites which may have advice besides the revenue site

Also could anyone recommend an accountant who would not charge an arm and a leg. I am looking at online ones at the moment such as http://www.teamwork.ie/, how high are charges likely to be?

Also I am looking to be employed in a PAYE job hopefully in the near future. Would I still be able to get my Tax credits so Im not on emergency tax while I am sorting out my sole trader taxes?


Thanks again you lads have been great

mozattack

Is it not a contradiction that you think you cant go to an accountant because your case is too complicated?

Ever hear of mitigation of penalties, unprompted qualifying disclosure, self-correction.

You could owe €10,000 for example - moving penalties from 20% to 3% could save you €1,700 in that case. Also need to agree payment plan going forward blah blah blah...


I dont try and fix my washing machine, I get a plumber.