Finance Choices
Brits paying over the odds for accountants
UK residents could be paying four times more than they need to by going to a high street accountant, a new report finds.
Taxwatchdog reveals today that self-employed workers who run their own business are often charged on an hourly rate for extras including correspondence and general advice, seeing fees rise.
But by moving from a high street, or national, accountant to a fixed fee service consumers could save £606.
And while regional accountants typically offer better value, moving to a fixed fee service could still be better value - with savings of up to £141 available.
"Why throw your hard earned money down the drain. At Taxwatchdog, we believe in people keeping more of what they earn. And in most instances, the ?man on the street? has relatively straightforward tax matters which can be dealt with without the need for face-to-face meetings," said Bernard Oster, managing director of Taxwatchdog.
Taxwatchdog reveals today that self-employed workers who run their own business are often charged on an hourly rate for extras including correspondence and general advice, seeing fees rise.
But by moving from a high street, or national, accountant to a fixed fee service consumers could save £606.
And while regional accountants typically offer better value, moving to a fixed fee service could still be better value - with savings of up to £141 available.
"Why throw your hard earned money down the drain. At Taxwatchdog, we believe in people keeping more of what they earn. And in most instances, the ?man on the street? has relatively straightforward tax matters which can be dealt with without the need for face-to-face meetings," said Bernard Oster, managing director of Taxwatchdog.
posted by Bruce Wayne at 11:07 AM
Brits paying over the odds for accountants
3 Comments:
I don't have an accountant yet, but I'm planning to get one when I get my 1099 tax forms this year. I tried to do my own taxes last year, and while I got it done, I'm sure there were some business deductions I missed. I'm sure a good accountant could save me more than they cost.
I got one when I used to own a business--he saved me enough to pay for his services. Now, although the business is sold, I still use him once a year. I don't keep up on tax laws, and he does. I try to do my own, and take it with me when I go in-several years I thought I would owe, and when he did the, I got a refund. I missed some things which were deductble and all (such as my union dues). And, since I buy and sell stock thru work, that is tricky also. Last year I paid about $150 for his services.
I don't use an accountant. I use Quicken and file my taxes through Turbotax for the web. I have an IRA account at American Century and get a partnership deal through them for reduced rates on using Turbotax. I've managed a nice return every year and the questions prompt me to look for things like my union dues (mentioned earlier by mom-from-missouri). I found that even working the taxes with my wife's business worked out easily. You do need to hang on to all of your receipts for the year, though. It also has helped me tremendously to have all of those receipts organized more than just by month. I figure for the $40-$50 I spend on state and federal tax prep through Turbotax for the web, I get just as good of service as if I went to the accountant. Now if I manage to build some more assets and put some more of them to work for me to generate passive income, I might consider one, but for now, being a lowly Kindergartner with a meager bottom-line, I am content to keep doing it on my own.
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