Charge for tax returns

Charge for tax returns

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Hi,

I am beginning to work as a self-employed Chartered Accountant in Northern Ireland and am trying to work out a reasonable fee structure.

Can anyone advise what would be a reasonable average figure to charge for submitting a self-assessment tax return and a corporation tax return?

Kind regards

Replies (12)

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Locutus of Borg
By Locutus
11th Feb 2016 11:21

I'm in London

I charge from £250 + VAT for an SA return, depending upon the complexity.

I don't charge a separate fee for a CT return, as I  would quote a price for accounts including CT.

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By cheekychappy
11th Feb 2016 11:27

It depends.

My lowest SATR fee is £220, my highest £650.

As per the above, my CT fee is rolled into the fee for the accounts.

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RLI
By lionofludesch
11th Feb 2016 11:29

Depends

The market wouldn't stand £300 for a wee return here in Sunny Yorkshire.

My most complicated tax return only job is worth around that.  A straightforward one would be £100 - £150 with a bit extra in the first year for the set-up costs, so it would.

Agree about the CT return.   You can't do it without doing the accounts so I see it as part of the accounts job.

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By xanatinker
11th Feb 2016 11:37

Thanks very much to everyone so far.  Good point made about including the CT fee along with the accounts fee since they both must be done together.

£200 for a SA return sounds about right.

Thanks

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RedFive
By RedFive
11th Feb 2016 11:47

how long is a piece of string?

What is this mythical average self assessment tax return you speak of?

Is it a sole trader with 3 bin bags of receipts, an £80,000 turnover and all brought in, in cash?

Is it a Lord of the realm with a couple of Dividends and an expenses fiddle/claim?

Is it the lady who works full time during the day but also runs her own self employed business at night and keeps meticulous records?

Is it the guy who brings in an excel spread sheet saying it's all done for you, you just have to submit it?

Is it the digital aware dude who keeps all his expenses on an app on his phone and drives a black Range Rover Sport?

I charge from £50 to £600 to 'submit' a Personal tax return.

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By petersaxton
11th Feb 2016 11:54

No corporation tax return

I have some flat management companies as clients so I charge them just for the accounts and not for a corporation tax return - which HMRC are not expecting.

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By Sjsaccountant
11th Feb 2016 12:24

Fee List

I would recommend seeing if any local accountants in NI kindly offer their fee lists on their website to give you an idea of local competition.  Some do and it is becoming more common to do this.

Even if you do form a fee list then it is still a 'guideline' price.  You will win on some and lose on others in your first year.  I don't charge for extra set up costs in the first year unless I know they won't return for a second year.

Your first meeting with client is critical to get a sense of 

 

how they manage records, how organised they are

how much chasing will they need? are they keen to keep on top of filing requirements etc?

are their circumstances fairly stable - ie are they about to change jobs, go self employed, set up a limited company etc etc..

why are they looking for a new accountant?  This is often telling....!

 

All of these factors may impact your pricing.  I even price in 'hassle' factor if I think there will be lots of communication, questions, changes etc

 

I had a client recently and the chemistry was not there between us and basically she decided she'd prefer to do it herself after a good few hours of my time spent on the account for nothing!  Gut feel is key.  It is OK to have some reasons why you would not take on a client and pricing is key. Stick to your guns once you have priced it unless their circumstances significantly change.

 

 

 

 

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PJ
By paulgrca.net
11th Feb 2016 12:51

Submitting a tax return

probably charge £10 might even do it for free - preparation of the tax return will cost a tad more!
 

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By John Webb
11th Feb 2016 13:11

varies from.....

£62.50 - £125 for a tax return for a director who only has salary and dividends and I do the company accounts/payroll etc -takes 20-30 mins to ask for additional info (interest etc) prepare (taxcalc) email over then submit after electronic approval received  

to about £400 for a small sole trader tax return

But the key is hourly rate - all done at £100ph+  ( I keep detailed timesheets so know I achieve that)

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By JulieY
11th Feb 2016 13:17

I agree with RedFive.

Our lowest fees are about £300 - £400 and the more difficult ones are scaled up from there depending on time and complexity.

I do understand the local market arguments etc, but you still need to cover your own costs, e.g. software, office, etc, not to mention actually getting paid for your time and knowledge.

Our knowledge and time is valuable and we take the view that clients need to recognise and pay for this. If they think it is too expensive, how would they get on if they tried to do it themselves??

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By Sheepy306
12th Feb 2016 09:51

My range....
My fees:

Personal tax returns range from £100-£250 plus VAT, partnership returns would be extra. I'd be very surprised if I spend more than an hour on any of them, if I do then it will be part of either self-employment, rental accounts or foreign property, which I'd charge separately for.
I'm a 1 person firm, it would be different if I had staff doing the work then a manager and partner had to review it.

CT600's are bundled in with the accounts fee, but if I break the fee down for any reason then I usually allocate £100 to it.

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By free-rider
12th Feb 2016 10:14

On average I charge between £120 to £250 per individual tax return. Straightforward ones and returns for CIS subbies usually are around £150. My charges I believe are a bit on a low side for the area but that is justified by my working hours (moonlighter).
Overall achieve around £100 ph.

Do not charge extra for CT as majority of clients pay monthly by DD and the monthly fee usually covers bookkeeping & accounts prep. On average end up with around £85-90 ph.

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