Just registered as self employed, how do I get my taxes paid ASAP ?

augusta24

Bit worried here, basically long story short I left it very late to register as self employed as I didn't realise I was actually self employed with the work I was doing.

So by the time I finally applied in August, it took Revenue ages to get back to me, they finally sent me a letter 2 weeks ago wanting me to fill out another form (I think it was basically a form for them to close my file as I am now finished that work). However, I haven't received anything else re: taxes and I need to pay income tax (by end of this month I think?!).

Can anyone clarify this for me, should I receive something in the post from revenue, automaticaly since I am/was registered self employed? Or am I supposed to go about getting tax return forms etc. myself?
I've literally just applied for ROS a minute ago as I thought maybe this might be quicker? Any advice about this would be really appreciated!

Just in case this matters, I was working from Oct 2010-July 2011 and would have earned just under €15,000 for that period.

Sorry I seem a bit frantic, I'm just very busy at the moment as I have returned to full time education and this is completely my fault as I've left it so late, but still worried!

srsly78

Setup an RDI on ROS. Then push button -> revenue takes money straight from your account.

augusta24

srsly78 wrote: »

Setup an RDI on ROS. Then push button -> revenue takes money straight from your account.

Sorry what's an RDI? I've applied with ros for a ran etc to use ros online services?

srsly78

RDI = revenue debit instruction. Authorises revenue to loot your bank account.

You will see how to set it up once you log into ros.

augusta24

srsly78 wrote: »

RDI = revenue debit instruction. Authorises revenue to loot your bank account.

You will see how to set it up once you log into ros.

Thanks very much. I'm only after registering yesterday so I'm just hoping the details come soon enough for me to be able to sort this by the end of the month but I'm worried I've left it too late.
Can anyone tell me the protocall for doing this manually not online? Where can I get the forms to file my tax return? This is driving me mad as my income is very straight forward, single person earned just under €15000 from oct 2010 to July 2011! Yet can't seem to find any user friendly info on the revenue website regarding how much I owe!

PaulieBoy

It will take a couple of weeks or more before your ROS account is up and running. You need to get an accountant! I don't fully see where you are coming from, but if you just registered as self employed you pay your tax once a year, a year in arrears. You may also need to register for VAT.
A talk to an accountant is a must...

augusta24

PaulieBoy wrote: »

It will take a couple of weeks or more before your ROS account is up and running. You need to get an accountant! I don't fully see where you are coming from, but if you just registered as self employed you pay your tax once a year, a year in arrears. You may also need to register for VAT.
A talk to an accountant is a must...

Thanks for your reply, I think I know an accountant would be the best bet and I fully understand why most people would suggest that.

However, I feel as though I simply can't afford one...

Basically, I worked as a home tutor from Oct-July. Never fully realised I was self employed (so naive I know however I had such few hours that I never thought it would be a big deal re: taxes etc.)

I only registered as being self employed during the summer (after bad advice off a friend who said there was no rush).
By then I had finished the job and was unemployed. I started the job Oct 14th 2010 and finished July 2011 and never did anything regarding taxes last year. I earned under €15000 for the period. Roughly €3000 was from Oct-Dec 2010. I was also working part time for the remainder of 2010 but this was as an employed worker for someone else and earned just €6000 on that but any taxes etc. owed on that were paid (although there was very little as it was so low).

I am now back in full time third level education (paying for a masters course) and just don't have the money to justify paying an accountant when I think the fee for the accountant will be nearly as much as the amount of taxes I owe.

I feel as though, its complicated to me as I know so little about the area, but is straight forward to anyone who knows anything about taxes because I have no outgoings etc. its not like I owned a business or emplpoyed people. I earned a straight forward hourly rate and worked a certain amount of hours and I have proof of all of this as it was organised by the Dept of Education.

augusta24

augusta24 wrote: »

....... I have no outgoings etc. its not like I owned a business or emplpoyed people. I earned a straight forward hourly rate and worked a certain amount of hours and I have proof of all of this as it was organised by the Dept of Education.

Have a think about that outgoings bit, you surely had some expenses?

Anyway, you'll owe very little, mainly PRSI and the USC I'd say.

slavetothegrind

i would ring your local tax inspector and talk to them.
They are not the enemy and will advise you correctly on how to proceed.

Have a good read of the revenue website regarding expenses claimable for self employed.

srsly78

OP are you sure the dept of education didn't pay taxes for you? (ie normal paye)

augusta24

RoverJames wrote: »

Have a think about that outgoings bit, you surely had some expenses?

Anyway, you'll owe very little, mainly PRSI and the USC I'd say.

No expenses, the only thing I could have maybe tried would be petrol to drive the 10 minute journey to and from work and right now I don't even care about claiming that as I'm more concerned with getting what I owed paid as I really want to be above board about it.

I agree I feel that it really will be very little I owe, thats why I can't justify paying an accountant. If it was just €50 for an accountant I'd jump at it, but it seems to be €200+ and when my taxes might not be much more than this I just can't pay that.

I've been reading up as much as I can on everything and it seems to me that I'll owe USC and Income tax from the Jan-July sum. And I'm just a bit unsure how to calculate what I owe on the €3000 from 2010 as I was also an employed worker who earned €6000 in 2010. I'm a little unsure how to calculate the taxes for that bit ?

Also when you say I will owe PRSI, is this the same as Income Tax?

Again, apologies as I know this must be so annoying to somebody who knows this stuff so well but I'm incredibley grateful for any help off anyone at this stage.

augusta24

srsly78 wrote: »

OP are you sure the dept of education didn't pay taxes for you? (ie normal paye)

No unfortunately not, it was a grant that they paid the parents of the child I worked with. Then the parents of the child paid me my hourly rate out of the grant.

I definitely owe taxes on it, but my income is very straightforward as I know I worked x amount of hours at €x hourly rate etc.

augusta24

slavetothegrind wrote: »

i would ring your local tax inspector and talk to them.
They are not the enemy and will advise you correctly on how to proceed.

Have a good read of the revenue website regarding expenses claimable for self employed.

Thanks for the advice, I'm going to call them after lunch.

srsly78

You totally can and should claim loads of expenses. You can claim unvouched expenses of e33.60 per diem for commuting to somewhere that is not your "normal place of work". Accountant will advise properly. This option is handier coz you don't need receipts. That rate is a for a full working day however, not for spending 1 hour there tho.

Note the grey area is with what defines your "normal place of work" because you are probably bouncing around to loads of places.

augusta24

srsly78 wrote: »

You totally can and should claim loads of expenses. You can claim unvouched expenses of e33.60 per diem for commuting to somewhere that is not your "normal place of work". Accountant will advise properly. This option is handier coz you don't need receipts. That rate is a for a full working day however, not for spending 1 hour there tho.

Note the grey area is with what defines your "normal place of work" because you are probably bouncing around to loads of places.

No unfortunately not, I would have really only worked in one setting (a creche). Some days would have taken the child out of the creche but I have no proof of this whatsoever.

augusta24

Thanks to everyone for all of your help and patience. I'm very flustered at the moment over the entire thing so just trying to stay calm and actually make sense of it all.

I have worked out what I think I could owe and I'm a bit shocked as it is more than I had anticipated (my fault I know). However, there are two things I'm confused about, that may have an affect on the total tax due:

1. Do my tax credits come into my tax due as a self employed person? From what I can tell for 2011 I would have had a single persons tax credit of €1650 but I'm unsure if this is just for PAYE workers?

2. Is there any minimum earnings threshold for PRSI for self employment? It states here: a number of personal circumstances under Excemption limits for PRSI that looks to me as though if you a single person earning under €18000 your are exempt? However I'm finding it difficult to see whether this applies to me as a self employed person, or is this only for PAYE workers?
http://www.revenue.ie/en/tax/it/leaflets/it1.html#section19

Therefore, not taking any tax credits or exemptions into account this is what I am working out that I would owe and I would really appreciate it if anyone could advise me on whether I'm on the right track here or way off?

For 2010: I worked part time as a PAYE earning €4649.43 (such a small amount no tax was ever really paid on this apart from a few weeks where income levy was deducted and I think I should have claimed this back afterwards but never bothered).
Then started self employment mid October and earned €3939.92 until end Dec 2010.

I am working it out that I don't owe income levy/health contrib as my earnings are so low therefore getting 3% of 3939.92 = €118.20 (although it seems that the minimum amount to pay may be €253 although I find it difficult to tell whether that is just 2011, or 2010 too?

So for 2010 possibly oweing €118.20 (or maybe the higher amount of €253).

Then for 2011 my total earnings were €10918.77 all through self employment so I am working out that my
USC: 2% of 10036 = €200.72 + 4% of €882.77 = €35.31
So.... €236.03 USC

Then PRSI is 4% of €10918.77=€436.75

So not taking any tax credits or possible exemptions as earnings were so low I'm estimating that for 2010 and 2011 I will owe €790.98.

srsly78

Don't worry too much about it. If you overpay you can claim the monkey back later.

PaulieBoy

augusta24 wrote: »

Thanks to everyone for all of your help and patience. I'm very flustered at the moment over the entire thing so just trying to stay calm and actually make sense of it all.

I repeat! You really really do need an accountant. Just a meeting with one will go a long way towards saving you more than you pay. This is not place to have your accounts done! Ask around your friends/ family one of them will suggest an accountant that will put you on the right track. With all due respect what your doing here is complete madness!
This is no place to have your tax return completed.

augusta24

srsly78 wrote: »

Don't worry too much about it. If you overpay you can claim the monkey back later.

Thanks, I really need to calm down about it as I'm making myself sick with worry and unfortunately life is incredibly busy already with my masters... All of which my own fault though which makes it worse!!

I would just love if someone could guide me with regards to what they think of my workings there... Does it seem roughly right? Or am I way off and should I actually owe much more?

srsly78

Noone is allowed to give you legal advice here unfortunately.

Here is a groovy spreadsheet that will do your taxes tho: http://taxcalc.eu/ Just stick numbers in.

augusta24

srsly78 wrote: »

Noone is allowed to give you legal advice here unfortunately.

Here is a groovy spreadsheet that will do your taxes tho: http://taxcalc.eu/ Just stick numbers in.

Thanks for the link but it doesn't seem to work for self employment.

srsly78

It does. The only difference is you pay your tax as a lumpsum rather than spread out as with PAYE.

Just use it to verify your figures for amount of prsi, usc and so on (as an upper bound, you probably owe less).

Don't forget to go claim your tax credits for bin charges + rent + etc

slavetothegrind

you are under the prsi threshold according to information provided.

I would go to a reputable book keeper, sure you will pay but it will not be as much as you think for a service that puts your mind at ease and sets you up for the future.

Don't stress over the amount, once it is arrived at you can deal with it in a manner affordable by you.

the longer you procrastinate the more wound up you will get, online is not going to do it. Honestly.

I should say i am no book keeper just someone who got myself into a bigger mess than you have and got through it with the help of a good professional and a revenue official. So i kinda feel for ya

augusta24

Thanks for your advice, I'm going to call around to see how much roughly an accountant will charge but really and truely am I correct in thinking they will charge around €200 for the service? As I genuinely can't afford that... I see where people are coming from in saying that I should go to do it right but I have no income at all anymore and won't have any income for the next 2 years so every cent really is valuable.

But thanks again for the advice.

I think what is confusing me the most here is that I can't seem to find clarification re: the PRSI. slavetothegrind you mention that I am under the PRSI threshold, does this mean that you don't think I owe any PRSI? As I find the information on the revenue website confusing. At one section it states PRSI is for those who have incomes of more than €18000, but then at another section it states self employed pay PRSI of 4% on all income. If I could get my head around this I think it would make more sense to me. and if I knew for sure about this I might then be able to consider an accountant depending on how much I'm likely to owe.

Sand Wedge

If you are only registered as self employed from October 2010, then your 2010 tax return will not be due to be filed until 31/10/2012. You will have to file both your 2010 & 2011 tax return then.

augusta24 wrote: »

Bit worried here, basically long story short I left it very late to register as self employed as I didn't realise I was actually self employed with the work I was doing.

So by the time I finally applied in August, it took Revenue ages to get back to me, they finally sent me a letter 2 weeks ago wanting me to fill out another form (I think it was basically a form for them to close my file as I am now finished that work). However, I haven't received anything else re: taxes and I need to pay income tax (by end of this month I think?!).

Can anyone clarify this for me, should I receive something in the post from revenue, automaticaly since I am/was registered self employed? Or am I supposed to go about getting tax return forms etc. myself?
I've literally just applied for ROS a minute ago as I thought maybe this might be quicker? Any advice about this would be really appreciated!

Just in case this matters, I was working from Oct 2010-July 2011 and would have earned just under €15,000 for that period.

Sorry I seem a bit frantic, I'm just very busy at the moment as I have returned to full time education and this is completely my fault as I've left it so late, but still worried!

augusta24

Sand Wedge wrote: »

If you are only registered as self employed from October 2010, then your 2010 tax return will not be due to be filed until 31/10/2012. You will have to file both your 2010 & 2011 tax return then.

I could actually hug you right now! I had literally just stumbled upon that and was trying to see if I could get that clarified anywhere but that is just the best news ever to me because I can now take the time to get the finances together to pay an accountant to do it for me! Thank you so so much for pointing that out to me.

Can I just clarify this one more time though, does this definitely apply to me since I was a home tutor , not your average "trade" worker if you know what I mean? Sorry probably such a stupid question but I am so relieved to think I can wait another year that I just want to make doubley sure it counts for me!

faceache

OP sorry for jumping in here on your query, Sandwedge - is this 100% correct, I registered as self employed last August, did SYOB course, accountant on that told me same, I did not have to do return until 2012, then for both years. Did a short follow up course recently re filling form 11 and that accountant said I had to do a return Oct 2011 for Aug to Dec 2010. Was intending phoning revenue Monday to see which is right but just saw your post. Would love if it was next year as I cannot afford accountant now and business is quite simple, feel I could fill the form online alright at this stage just need to be sure when and for what period.

barneystinson

faceache wrote: »

OP sorry for jumping in here on your query, Sandwedge - is this 100% correct, I registered as self employed last August, did SYOB course, accountant on that told me same, I did not have to do return until 2012, then for both years. Did a short follow up course recently re filling form 11 and that accountant said I had to do a return Oct 2011 for Aug to Dec 2010. Was intending phoning revenue Monday to see which is right but just saw your post. Would love if it was next year as I cannot afford accountant now and business is quite simple, feel I could fill the form online alright at this stage just need to be sure when and for what period.

If you commenced trading in 2010, you don't need to file your return until Oct 2012, by which point you'll be required to have both 2010 and 2011 returns filed. See IT48 (page 7) on the Revenue website for confirmation (www.revenue.ie/en/tax/it/leaflets/it48.pdf)

You should, however, actually pay the full tax liability due for 2010 by 31/10/11...

Anyway the conventional wisdom would be to just do a set of accounts for 17 months up to 31 Dec 2011, and put 5/17 on the 2010 return and 12/17 on the 2011 return.

And don't leave it on the long finger for too long or you'll be there next October getting a nasty surprise when you're trying to find money to pay a 2010 tax bill, a 2011 tax bill, and preliminary tax for 2012...

faceache

So in other words even though i dont need to fill in and submit the form this October, I need to have the figures ready anyway and pay the tax. What would be the advantage if any of not doing it in October and waiting for 2012? If I have to go as far as figuring out the tax due this October then I would basically be ready to file the return anyway, am I correct or am I missing some reason why they give you the extra time as a start up?

Ideally I would like to submit 2010 & 2011 in Jan 2012, any reason why that is not a good idea? I prefer not to wait until last minute of Oct 2012 and would prefer a bit more time this year to make sure I have everything right.

Tax for 2010 would be minimal, not exactly a huge business, more of a glorified hobby! 2011 wouldnt be much better.