Duties of an accountant?

bbsrs

I'm starting a small Ltd company and am about to seek the services of an accountant but before I call around I want to know what services does an accountant provide and how much do they charge ball park?
I will require all tax returns doing , monthly salary for two people , NO vat ,basic stuff really.
Do I have to pay extra to get the accountant to advise me if the expenses claims I'm making are within revenue guidelines? Basically I want the accountant to do everything relating to taxation and keep me compliant . How much should I expect to pay for theses services?

Alan Shore

Are you going to do the companies office returns yourself. If your not registered for VAT why? If its because your turnover is under the limit do you need a company?

Accounts, Form CT1, 2x Form 11, P35, abridged accounts & Form B1, general advice ~€1,000 + VAT.

bbsrs

Alan Shore wrote: »

Are you going to do the companies office returns yourself. If your not registered for VAT why? If its because your turnover is under the limit do you need a company?

Accounts, Form CT1, 2x Form 11, P35, abridged accounts & Form B1, general advice ~€1,000 + VAT.

All contracts we have are outside of Ireland so not registered for vat. To get the contracts we chase we must be a company . I don't want to do anything except fill out expense sheets and send them to the accountant along with company bank accounts.
I'm not familiar with tax returns and I am happy to pay someone to look after it and advise me with regards to staying compliant with revenue.
What I am not sure of is if all our work will be at various European location where will revenue say is our "normal place of work " and if they say it's outside the state what tax implications does that have ? I can't find anything definitive on line , I've read revenues literature on the matter but it's very vague. Reading some reports on revenues contractors project it's even more unclear what contractors can claim expenses wise in or out of the state.
This is why I need a professional to answer these questions to prevent issues popping up down the line.

sonyvision

bbsrs wrote: »

All contracts we have are outside of Ireland so not registered for vat. To get the contracts we chase we must be a company . I don't want to do anything except fill out expense sheets and send them to the accountant along with company bank accounts.
I'm not familiar with tax returns and I am happy to pay someone to look after it and advise me with regards to staying compliant with revenue.
What I am not sure of is if all our work will be at various European location where will revenue say is our "normal place of work " and if they say it's outside the state what tax implications does that have ? I can't find anything definitive on line , I've read revenues literature on the matter but it's very vague. Reading some reports on revenues contractors project it's even more unclear what contractors can claim expenses wise in or out of the state.
This is why I need a professional to answer these questions to prevent issues popping up down the line.

The chances are every accountant will charge you something different. Best bet is to ring around and ask for prices.

Be cautious tho they are cowboys out there like any trade or profession. If you heard of a good accountant try them first as some 1 can stand over their work. As the above post said 1000+ vat wouldnt be to far off if any thing it will be more as they charge by time rather then actual items produced.

sonyvision

bbsrs wrote: »

All contracts we have are outside of Ireland so not registered for vat. To get the contracts we chase we must be a company . I don't want to do anything except fill out expense sheets and send them to the accountant along with company bank accounts.
I'm not familiar with tax returns and I am happy to pay someone to look after it and advise me with regards to staying compliant with revenue.
What I am not sure of is if all our work will be at various European location where will revenue say is our "normal place of work " and if they say it's outside the state what tax implications does that have ? I can't find anything definitive on line , I've read revenues literature on the matter but it's very vague. Reading some reports on revenues contractors project it's even more unclear what contractors can claim expenses wise in or out of the state.
This is why I need a professional to answer these questions to prevent issues popping up down the line.

The chances are every accountant will charge you something different. Best bet is to ring around and ask for prices.

Be cautious tho they are cowboys out there like any trade or profession. If you heard of a good accountant try them first as some 1 can stand over their work. As the above post said 1000+ vat wouldnt be to far off if any thing it will be more as they charge by time rather then actual items produced.

Alan Shore

You could have lead with that. Advice on international tax does not come cheap and in particular the current expenses for contractors.

No idea how much it would cost.

bbsrs

Alan Shore wrote: »

You could have lead with that. Advice on international tax does not come cheap and in particular the current expenses for contractors.

No idea how much it would cost.

Why would it be international tax when all invoices will be paid to an irish company ? The only thing international would be the expenses and that seems to be a minefield. I don't mind paying for good advice.

Alan Shore

bbsrs wrote: »

All contracts we have are outside of Ireland so not registered for vat.

Clearly we have a difference of opinion on what you mean by this!

You mean that all your customers are outside Ireland.

Not sure of your view then that you don't need to register for VAT. There may be no VAT chargeable on Intra EU supplies of services but that not the same as not registering for VAT. It's much more than just expenses.

theKillerBite

Alan Shore wrote: »

Are you going to do the companies office returns yourself. If your not registered for VAT why? If its because your turnover is under the limit do you need a company?

Accounts, Form CT1, 2x Form 11, P35, abridged accounts & Form B1, general advice ~€1,000 + VAT.

You'd be extremely lucky to get it for €1k and wouldn't be worth an accountants time to do it for that low. We'd charge about €400 net to do a F11 return (only 1 required) and about €2.5k to do accounts/co. sec. Payroll would be extra again.

bbsrs

Alan Shore wrote: »

Clearly we have a difference of opinion on what you mean by this!

You mean that all your customers are outside Ireland.

Not sure of your view then that you don't need to register for VAT. There may be no VAT chargeable on Intra EU supplies of services but that not the same as not registering for VAT. It's much more than just expenses.

All clients are outside of Ireland and any assignments we carry out for them are outside of Ireland. We provide a service and are not obliged to charge vat so have no need to register for vat I understand. Is my understanding correct?
The reason I mentioned expenses is that it's one of the things I'll need advice on.

Immy

What about the country you are supplying the service to, will you have to register for VAT there.

Could get complicated.

bbsrs

Immy wrote: »

What about the country you are supplying the service to, will you have to register for VAT there.

Could get complicated.

I don't know the answer to that but thanks for bringing it to my attention.

smcgiff

Here's some free tax advice...

IF, you don't have to charge VAT on your services then all the more reason to register for VAT as you can still claim all the VAT on purchases. You'll be in a net receipt situation.

"A trader who derives 75% or more of annual turnover from zero-rated intra-Community supplies of goods and/or from exports of goods may apply to have most goods and services received by him or her and intra-Community acquisitions and imports made by him or her zero-rated. Full details are available in VAT Information Leaflet on ‘Zero Rating of Goods and Services’."

Key word here is may. You might be better off registering for VAT. Would the admin cost outweigh the amounts you can claim back?

bbsrs

smcgiff wrote: »

Here's some free tax advice...


Key word here is may. You might be better off registering for VAT. Would the admin cost outweigh the amounts you can claim back?

Admin would most probably outweigh the amounts the conmpany could claim back as we have a very low costs in ireland .

thamks for the info though , definitely one to remember for the future

Alan Shore

@macgriff

I'm confused does a trader not have to register for VAT if their turnover exceeds the Irish threshold.

The fact that they can zero rate their sales is based on the supply of a service to a VAT registered person in a member state in order to do so they have to have certain documentation in place. Such as the invoice containing the customers verified VAT number.

smcgiff

Alan Shore wrote: »

@macgriff

I'm confused does a trader not have to register for VAT if their turnover exceeds the Irish threshold.

The fact that they can zero rate their sales is based on the supply of a service to a VAT registered person in a member state in order to do so they have to have certain documentation in place. Such as the invoice containing the customers verified VAT number.

If a company's services/goods sold are 75% (or more) export they (the whole company's activities)may be treated as zero rated.

A firm will have to apply for and hold a VAT 13B certificate.

dbran

Hi

A company which provides services only to business customers outside of the state is not required to register for VAT as the place of supply of the service is deemed to be where the recipient is located.

Therefore such services would be effectively outside the scope of Irish VAT and strictly speaking the company would not be entitled to register for VAT on this basis. However the revenue will allow such a company to register for VAT as otherwise an application could be made by the company under EU directives to reclaim the VAT on expenses on the basis that the company is a business incurring vatable costs in the state.

Regards

dbran

Alan Shore

Thanks Dave.

I did not know that.

Would the Client need to be careful to make sure that the customer was registered for VAT in the foreign country to make the place of supply outside of Ireland?

dbran

Hi

Normally yes as if it was B2C as opposed to B2B then the place of supply would be Ireland and Irish VAt would indeed apply.

dbran