help me to sort our taxes i dont know where to start

Hi there,

I was hoping someone could help us please my apoligies in advance for confusion caused

I will try to explain situation and see what we should be doing

Firstly, husband was self employed up to mid 2007 (was a block layer) had to give up due to no work so went on "jobseeker's benefit".

Was on that till Sept 08 when he started a course so went onto "back to education allowance" until 2 wks ago.

He then thankfully secured a full time job within days of finishing course.

Now this new job has him on emergancy tax so we need to know how to sort his credtis etc as he didnt have a p45 before signing. He doesnt have anything to give new employer so he is currently losing more on deductions then taking home. We also have full medical card and heard he shouldnt have to pay income levy how do we sort that?

Some other info

he has large debt to revenue from the business he had when he was self employed in 07 i was a stay at home mother with 3 kids.

We married in 2006 so think jointly assesssed for 07 he had all credits I think.

Also as of Apr 2008 I became self employed run a laundrette I have not filed any returns of any kind as of yet, have filed and paid vat returns but nothing else.

We need to know what is the best way to sort out our taxes and credits and keep medical card which is essential as dd2 was in hospital for near 4 wks in total last month.

Now I am so sorry for the rambling confusing post I hope someone here can help us asap.

Also very low if any profit out of laundrette as still new and high overheads and have high mortgage and 3 kids under 4 so need the money.

Off topic sort of husband had an accountant when he was in business and when I was setting up I put down his details but I really want to change as I personally dont like him and found he didnt give any help or info on things when i used to ask. Found him dismissive towards me now I always had vat returns done and everything was always given to him in the most organised and detailed way possible so could anyone recommend an accountant in West of Ireland/Mayo area that would be appricated.

Really hope someone can help us and if there is anythiong we can do to claw back money please inform me

Re: help me to sort our taxes i dont no where to start

Broadly, a good accountant will help but here's some starting points:

What your husband should do:

He needs to get a certificate of tax credits from the Revenue Commissioners. It's probably easiest for him to go to your local tax office with his PPS number (which would be shown on any documentation received from the tax office). He should explain that he was previously self-employed, now an employee and needs a certificate of tax credits for his employer. They will want info on things such as marital status [Ans: Married, but he might need to check with them that the correct credits have been applied since you first got married- this may require a P21 statement to be prepared by the Revenue Commissioners], whether you are working or stay-at-home mother[ Ans: self-employed], whether you pay bin charges, whether he is a member of a trade union, whether you/he pays income protection, a pension etc etc. He might also mention to them that he did a college course last year- depending on the duration/ type of course, it may be possible to get additional tax credits for the cost of the course. He should also tell them that you are both currently holding a full medical card (I don't know the criteria for a married couple with 3 children) and needs his employer to know that as he isn't liable to the income levy [it may be the case that he has to pay it during the year and reclaim it after December- in any case, if he's not liable to it it can defeinitely be recovered after December]. Additionally, if relevant, he could tell the Revenue that the family incur medical expenses (if you actually have to pay for some of the medical costs)
Re his debt to revenue, that will probably take negotiations- depending on the amount of the debt, he could possibly suggest a reduction of his credits so that the debt is collected over time. Maybe a loan from a credit union could form a part of the repayment- it depends on your ability to repay. Generally, the Revenue Commissioners will be prepared to work with you to recover the debt.

What you should do:

Check with the Revenue Commissioners whether your business is liable for VAT. This depends on your business' turnover and if it's under the relevant threshold you don't need to charge VAT (but neither can you reclaim VAT you've been charged). You'll almost certainly need to fill out a TR1 (or TR2, can't recall) form for the Revenue setting out basic details about your business if it's a reasonably substantial business. Accounts will need to be prepared since inception and there may be a tax issue to deal with depending on whether there's a profit or not. Again, the Revenue commissioners can be pretty helpful in this matter.

I can't advise re accounting firm but would suggest that a good accountant will probably be very helpful in sorting out your situation.