Should I use an accountant?

[Blueberry08]

I'm a PAYE worker so my tax affairs are all straightforward but I've just rented out my home (ie I'm living elsewhere) so need to sort out my tax liability on that front. I'm worse than useless on these things so, do you think it would be worth my while hiring an accountant to look after it for me or does that make no financial sense at all when my 'yield', before tax, is e1200 a month? Roughly, what should I expect to pay an accountant to deal with this? Would it just be more sensible to look after it myself? Thanks.

 

[Graham_07]

If you're "worse than useless on these things" then theres a very real danger of filing an incorrect return resulting in over or underpayments of tax. While not complicated rental returns must be constructed so as to include all income and relevant allowable expenses. WHile income might be straightforward, your thinking of what might be allowed and the reality may differ and that's when the problems may arise.

Get an accountant, the charges are deductible against the taxable rents so that reduces the cost. Accountants vary in charge so perhaps ring a few for quotes. There have, I think, been a few other threads on here on similar topics so do a few searches here too.

 

[ubiquitous]

Personal recommendations from friends & family is usually the most reliable way to source an accountant. Ringing around for quotes is okay in itself but if you rely too much on this, you will probably end up with either the cheapest one or the one with the best sales patter - not necessarily the best.

 

[dublinli]

you will need to fill in a form 12 every year. I would advise you to download the form and have look to see what you can do. It is pretty straight forward if you only have rental income.Look at the section "income from fees,rental income etc."
Unless you rented house was bought under a special tax relief such as section 23 etc, it is pretty straight forward but try iy anyway