The Winchester Bookkeeping Company

Bookkeeping, accounts and tax support for sole traders in Hampshire

  • Home
  • About
  • Is this you?
  • Work with me
    • Work with Karen
    • Creating your business
    • Running your business
    • Growing your business
  • Blog
  • Praise
  • Contact

What happens if I don’t file my self-assessment tax return on time?

January 14, 2017 By Karen Upcraft

Self-assessment deadline

    If you’re new to self-assessment or haven’t quite got your act together on the paperwork front, you may worrying about whether you’re going to “make it” before the deadline and anxious about the repercussions of a late tax return submission to HMRC. Here are the facts: Your tax return for 2015-16 is due […]

Filed Under: Personal taxation, Self assessment, Self employment, Starting Up Tagged With: personal taxation, self assessment, self assessment tax, self employed, sole trader, tax planning

Can I still claim tax relief if I lose a receipt?

November 13, 2016 By Karen Upcraft

You sit down to tackle the mound of paperwork in your weekly, monthly or dare I mention annual bookkeeping ritual (click here for why this isn’t a good idea) only to discover you’re missing receipts for expenses you know you’ve incurred. You understand that “allowable” expenses are a good thing when it comes to working out […]

Filed Under: Bookkeeping and accounting, Personal taxation, Record keeping, Self assessment, Self employment, Starting Up, Working from home Tagged With: bookkeeping, Online accounting software, personal taxation, Receipts, record keeping, sole trader bookkeeping, sole trader self assessment, Tax relief, Tax returns, Xero

Payments on account – a guide for sole traders

September 25, 2016 By Karen Upcraft

Payments on account are one of the most commonly misunderstood aspects of the self-assessment process and although the intention is to help self-employed people spread out their tax bill, the advantages might not seem so apparent when you ‘re first asked to pay a whopping big tax bill up front. What are payments on account? […]

Filed Under: Business planning, Personal taxation, Self assessment, Self employment, Starting Up, Tax planning, Working from home Tagged With: Budgeting, Financial planning, payments on account, personal taxation, self assessment, Self employed income tax, Self-employment, sole trader, sole trader self assessment, tax, tax return

What is a tax enquiry and how can you avoid one?

June 28, 2016 By Karen Upcraft

Tax Enquiry and how to avoid one

Tax enquiry, Tax investigation, eek … all sounds a bit scary doesn’t it?  And, when it comes to your small business accounts and taxes, haven’t you spent enough sleepless nights worrying about whether you are doing everything legally and above board? Facing up to a Tax Enquiry can seem like a daunting prospect. And I’ll […]

Filed Under: Accounting software, Bookkeeping and accounting, Personal taxation, Record keeping, Self assessment, Self employment Tagged With: accounting software, bookkeeping, self assessment tax, Self-employment, sole trader account, Tax Enquiry, Tax returns, Using an accountant

10 Reasons why it pays to submit your tax return early

May 15, 2016 By Karen Upcraft

It pays to do your tax return early

Who has sat down at the last minute to do their tax return only to discover that there is something they don’t understand, paperwork that can’t be located or that their tax position is more complicated than first envisaged? And, then the problem you discover is that there’s not enough time to figure it out […]

Filed Under: Bookkeeping and accounting, Budgeting for small business, Business planning, Personal taxation, Record keeping, Self assessment, Self employment, Tax planning Tagged With: bookkeeping, Self employed income tax, Self-employment, sole trader self assessment, tax planning, Tax returns

National Insurance Contributions – it’s all change for the self-employed

March 20, 2016 By Karen Upcraft

NI contributions for self employed

Many sole traders look at their tax position only in terms of the Income Tax payable and sometimes forget to take into account the tax they have to pay as National Insurance (NI). It’s easy to understand why NI is often regarded as the “forgotten tax” as the thresholds at which you pay NI and Income Tax differ. You […]

Filed Under: Bookkeeping and accounting, Personal taxation, Self assessment, Self employment Tagged With: class2NI, Class4 NI, National Insurance, self assessment, self employed, sole trader, tax

The 5 biggest myths about claiming expenses

January 7, 2016 By Karen Upcraft

You’re a sole trader. You’ve made it this far with your small business accounts preparation and you can feel the end in sight. But, come to working out what you can and cannot claim as an expense (for tax purposes) and that sense of achievement starts to diminish. You’re baffled by the rules and you’re not quite sure […]

Filed Under: Personal taxation, Self assessment, Self employment, Working from home Tagged With: Claiming expenses, personal taxation, self-assessment taxation, sole trader expenses, Tax returns, working from home

A Tax Return Checklist (part 2)

November 19, 2015 By Karen Upcraft

If the thought of completing a tax return feels scary and overwhelming right now. If, just hearing the word “tax” sends your heart racing. Let me start by saying that you’re not alone. It’s entirely normal to feel like you should be coping with everything that running a small business entails. I know I do! […]

Filed Under: Bookkeeping and accounting, Personal taxation, Record keeping, Self assessment, Self employment, Starting Up, Working from home Tagged With: 2014-15 tax year, hobby business, self assessment, sole trader bookkeeping, sole trader self assessment, sole trader tax, sole traders tax return, tax relief charitable donations, tax return, Tax returns, Using an accountant

A Tax Return Checklist (part 1)

November 14, 2015 By Karen Upcraft

Regular bookkeeeping

It’s that time of year again. Goodness only knows where you’ve put that receipt, what you could or should be claiming for, how you’ll get through your tax return with your sanity intact. Sound familiar? To ease you into that zone of inner calm, I have put together a 2 part guide (part 2 will be […]

Filed Under: Personal taxation, Record keeping, Self assessment, Self employment, Working from home Tagged With: 2014-15 tax year, self assessment tax, sole trader self assessment, sole traders tax return, tax return

Can I claim for my food and drink expenses?

September 23, 2015 By Karen Upcraft

Food and drink expenses 1

Running your own small business is tough at the best of times but trying to fathom what you can and cannot claim for your business costs and expenses can seem like an impossible task. Food and drink costs are no exception and the rules around claiming these costs as a sole trader can seem complicated […]

Filed Under: Personal taxation, Self assessment, Self employment, Working from home Tagged With: Allowable expenses, Claiming food and drink, self assessment, Self-employment, sole trader, Tax returns

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • Next Page »

Connect with me online

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter

Contact me

Phone: 07596 516670
Email: [email protected]

leave me a message >

Hop onto my mailing list for helpful notes and inspiration

Recent Posts

  • Autumn Budget 2017: A summary for small business owners
  • But my friend claims that as a tax expense……..
  • Are you using your Personal Tax Account?
  • Self-employed? 6 tips to boost your chances of getting a mortgage
  • I’m self-employed. How can I prove my income for a mortgage?

Blog categories

  • Accounting software
  • Bookkeeping and accounting
  • Budgeting for small business
  • Business planning
  • Excel
  • online accounting software
  • Personal taxation
  • Pricing your product and services
  • Record keeping
  • Self assessment
  • Self employment
  • Starting Up
  • Tax planning
  • Uncategorized
  • VAT
  • Working from home

Copyright © 2025
The Winchester Bookkeeping Company Ltd. Registered office: The Elms, Itchen Abbas,SO21 1BN. Registered in England & Wales. No: 8942503.

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.Accept Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT