Business records for self employed
3 mins
It can be hard work enough as it is when you are self-employed, without having to worry about what kind of business records you need to keep. Luckily, our team of experts at DSR Tax Refunds are here to help you out with our handy guide to inform you of the business records you need to be keeping if you are self-employed. You can also check out our handy online calculator and if you are owed a tax refund, call our friendly team on 0330 122 9972 and let us take on that hard work for you.
Why should you keep business records?
It’s really important if you are self-employed to keep your business records in good order, especially for HMRC when it comes to self-assessment time. You have to file your self-assessment tax return before the HMRC deadline or risk an instant £100 penalty and you will find it much easier to fill in your tax return, if you have all of the information to hand.
What business records do you need to keep?
Obviously, what you really want to be keeping are detailed records of your financial ins-and-outs. What is coming in and what is going out! This includes:
- All the money that is coming into your business, so that means keeping records of your receipts, invoices, sales records and till rolls. If you can, keep copies or backups of these – you never know when you might need them!
- Records of any business assets you have either bought or sold.
- Records of any business expenses you have spent on your business – big or small! They all add up when you are getting your taxes sorted out. Keep your receipts and invoices so that you can get to them when needed.
- Records of any money that you have either taken out of the business or put into the business yourself. This will also need to be accounted for in your self-assessment tax return.
The above are the essentials for your tax return, but there are also other records that you might need to keep:
- Bank statements.
- Payroll information, if you have employees or subcontractors.
- Records of your stock, if you run that kind of business.
You need to keep these records for five years, just in case HMRC want to take a closer look into your self-assessment returns.
If you have overseas income, you will need to keep a record of that for HMRC too, so make sure that you keep records of that (payslips, bank statements and so on).
How can DSR Tax Refunds help?
We know how complicated it can get when you are dealing with your tax returns and that is why we offer a self-assessment return service. Because of our expert knowledge, we can ensure that your self-assessment tax return is both accurate and submitted on time. And because we are tax preparation specialists, we can make sure that all of your business expenses are correctly accounted for so that you are only paying the tax you need to pay and not a penny more. We might even be able to claim a refund on previously overpaid tax. Call our friendly team of experts on 0330 122 9972 – we are the tax experts you can trust.