It’s that time again
Every April, across the country, you can hear the sound of Tax Return forms being pushed through letter-boxes and landing on doormats with a dull thud. Unless you completed your Tax Return on-line last year, in which case HMRC will assume you want to use the same method this time and they will probably just send you a notice requiring you to file a Return. read more…
A computer, or at the very least access to the internet, is a necessity for anyone working as an independent escort. So if you buy a laptop can you treat is as a business expense and claim relief? Or will the tax man deny you tax relief because there is personal non-business use as well?
The short answer is that if you use a computer for your business you can claim tax relief on the cost. read more…
Escorts and the 2013 Budget
Last Thursday George Osborne delivered his first tweet and his fourth Budget; and pretty dull affairs they both were too.
Today I’ll present a Budget that tackles the economy’s problems head on helping those who want to work hard & get on twitter.com/George_Osborne…
— George Osborne (@George_Osborne) March 20, 2013
Click for a preview
With the new tax year just weeks away the 2013/14 edition of the TaxRelief Diary is now available. It is in its 6th year, and so far as I know it’s still the only no-nonsense bookkeeping system specially designed for UK escorts and other sex-workers. The diary has one double page for each week, it’s handbag sized and the coil binding means it opens flat when in use. And of course it includes straightforward instructions and advice on how to make sure your accounts are not open to attack from HMRC.
It’s priced at £12.50 plus postage and packing, and it should arrive within a week of ordering. If you find the price comes up in Dollars (or Euros) just scroll to the bottom of the page and change the flag.
If you run your escorting (or other sex-work) business from home you are entitled to deduct from your income the expenses that are ‘wholly and exclusively incurred’ as a result of using your home. The question is: what expenses can be included, how do you work out how much you can claim, and are there any conditions you need to satisfy? read more…
Need help to get your Tax Return done?
Bernard turns his tax receipts into quite a smart casual jacket
To anybody who finds themselves continually putting off doing their tax return, can I recommend you set aside just half an hour and waste invest it in watching the very first episode of Black Books in which foul-tempered bookshop owner Bernard Black (Dylan Moran) struggles to complete his tax return after his dodgy accountant goes on the run? You can find it here on youtube.
If you haven’t already sent in your 2012 Tax Return you have until 31 January to get it done, and it has to be submitted on line. There is an automatic fine of £100 if you miss the deadline, and the fines keep growing if you keep delaying.
So if you need help, now is the time to get in touch with a reliable, professional and properly qualified accountant. We have a directory here of 5 accountants from around the UK all of whom are experienced in doing accounts and tax work for escorts and other sex workers. Accountants4escorts. But please don’t leave it until the very end of January. You don’t appreciate last minute booking requests, and neither do accountants.
Response to the consultation on proposed criminalisation of the purchase of sex in Scotland
I don’t normally blog about political stuff because this is not a campaigning web site. However I thought it would be useful to publish my response to the current proposal that seeks to make it a criminal offence to pay for sexual services in Scotland. So here is a copy of the submission I’ve made to Rhoda Grant MSP.
If you want to know more about the proposal you can read the consultation document on the Scottish Parliament website here: Proposed Criminalisation of the Purchase of Sex (Scotland) Bill (2)
Dear Ms Grant
My name is Jolyon. I am an accountant and the author of www.taxrelief4escorts.co.uk which provides free tax advice to UK escorts and other individual sex workers. I am not a resident of Scotland, but as you know the same tax laws apply throughout the UK. read more…
HMRC are closing in on undeclared income
HMRC’s latest poster campaign
HMRC have launched a new poster campaign – which could be coming to a bus stop near you – as part of their drive to persuade people with undeclared income to come clean and pay up. They also have a special web-site to go with it https://www.gov.uk/sortmytax
The tax deadlines can be confusing, so here’s a quick guide to the Tax Return time limits.
If you had any escorting income during the 2011/12 tax year (that’s during the period from 6 April 2011 to 5 April 2012) you need to submit a 2012 Tax Return.
During April HMRC started sending out 2012 Tax Return forms and notices which both say something like this:
This notice requires you, by law, to make a return of your taxable income and capital gains, and any documents requested, for the year from 6 April 2011 to 5 April 2012.
The time limits depend on the way you choose to file your Tax Return. read more…
This question arises out of comments made on Punternet suggesting that because some working girls have been found not guilty of evading income tax on their earnings from prostitution it therefore follows that there is some doubt about whether they are taxable at all. The person who raised the issue said that she had spoken to three people in the Revenue who had given her conflicting answers, and also spoken to a top lawyer who had told her it was a grey area.
Let’s try to untangle this.
First of all, this is not a grey area: income from sex work is taxable. Yet it is also true that on occasions people doing sex work of various kinds have been prosecuted for tax evasion, and some of them have been acquitted. So, how does that work? read more…
