Taxic Shock Syndrome

[bugshaw]

Well, I'm getting started on my tax return. I have now collected all the pieces of paper relating to my finances into the same room. Next - sort by category (savings, employment, self-employment (I went from one to the other in the tax year 2004-05), rent-a-room, charitable donations) and tax year.

Then come the sums. I hate the sorting, but I love the counting! Unfortunately, the Inland Revenue do their best to obfuscate the process with the special "Calculation Guide" - there's no way to ignore the parts which aren't relevant, and you end up carrying zeroes all over the place. The flow must work well enough for a computer program, but the intermediate calculations are rarely meaningful to humans. Maybe in my Copious Spare Time™ I could write an alternative Tax Calculation Guide.

Do berate me in Comments to advise me that I should have done this earlier, or on-line, or whatever, but I doubt you'll be telling me anything I'm not already telling myself :-(

Comments

[purpletigron.livejournal.com]

Good luck!

I think that the IR needs to embrace Algebra, then we can all simplify their equations as appropriate!

If you keep at it, you should get it all done today!

[darth-tigger.livejournal.com]

I'm in the middle of accounts at the moment too. Well, obviously I'm not, I'm taking a break to wibble aimlessly on LJ. But technically I'm doing accounts.

[bugshaw.livejournal.com]

In an alternate universe, I'm off out at 2:30 to see Brokeback Mountain.

[timill]

Mike Lewis? www.mikelewis.com I believe

[brixtonbrood.livejournal.com]

To state the bleeding obvious - if you can file online then it really is so much easier. I write this in a state of bitterness - because I bought a trivial amount of shares in my previous (French) employers some years ago I have to declare the dividends under foreign income, which means that I fill in all the UK forms online, get the IR website to do all the sums, print it all out, copy everything onto a paper version, then do the sums to work out that I owe them an additional 20 quid for the dividends and subtract that from the amount they have calculated they owe me (it normally works that way round, it's one upside of maternity leave) then post it off. I feel quite bitter about people who could do it online and don't. Go on, get yourself an ID and password the instant you've sent your return off (and try not to lose it like I keep doing).

[numbat.livejournal.com]

I must admit I gave up trying to even guess at what sort of refund I was due years ago. No matter how carefully I calculated it the amount I was eventually refunded was wildly different from the one I'd arrived at.

[hnpcc]

Do berate me in Comments to advise me that I should have done this earlier, or on-line, or whatever, but I doubt you'll be telling me anything I'm not already telling myself :-(

I'd be the last person to tell you off as that'd be pure hypocrisy on my part! I do feel your pain, good luck!