Preliminary tax returns help please!!!

yellowroses

Registered User
Messages
55
can some explain to me please what preliminary tax returns are?
My husband is classed as a self employed sole trader (basically his boss says he has to do his own tax returns).
Anyway Oct 2009 was his first yr doing his returns which he done through an accountant for the tax yr jan 08 to dec 08. Accountant advised us that his tax returns for jan 09 to dec 09 would need to be paid by 31 oct 2010. However this morning my husband got a letter from the revenue saying he has to pay his preliminary tax returns. Havent a clue what this is & if its mandatory? My husband is on 25k a yr so we are barely scarapping by & couldnt afford to pay his whole tax returns for the year 6 months early! can anyone explain please what we are expected to do? I am a stay at home mum so no clue on taxes etc
many thanks
 
You are getting a bit mixed up between tax returns and tax payments. Preliminary tax is a payment of income tax, there is no preliminary tax return. Ignoring extensions for ROS filings, Preliminary tax is due by 31 October in the tax year concerned. Therefore for 2009, the preliminary tax payment is due on or before 31 October 2009. Preliminary tax can be based on 100% of the prior year liability (i.e. 100% of the 2008 liability for 2009) or 90% of the actual liabity for the year. Therefore if 2008 was the first year that your husband was self employed he would have had to pay his 2008 liability on or before 31 October 2009 and a preliminary tax payment for 2009 on the same date. There is only one tax return due each year and that is due by 31 October following the year. Therefore the 2008 tax return was also due on 31 October 2009.

Your accountant should definitely of highlighted the need to make a preliminary tax payment. Especially as there was some complications to calculating the preliminary tax last year to take account of the income levy,.
 
You stated that your husband is "classed" as self-employed, By whom!!
You also state that his "Boss" says he is a sole trader and must be responsible for his own taxes.
If he self-employed sole trader he is the boss. Or is he still employed by a boss
 
So there are 2 lots of taxes to pay? My husband is definately not the boss. He has a set rate of pay, set hours to work & he is told what to do although he is not entitled to holidays or sick days. When he took the job his boss said he would have to be responsible for his own tax returns which was new to us as his previous employer had done all that for him. As far as we were told there is just one payment to the revenue due every year at the end of oct which is why im so confused now!
 
It definitely sounds like your husband may be an employee and not self employed. It is not up to your husbands boss to decide which it is, it is a question of fact. Anyway that is more an issue for the company.

As mentioned, there are normall 2 income tax payments due each 31 October. The final payment for the previosu year and preliminary tax for the current year. Contact your accountant and ask why you were not advised of this.
 
It appears to me from the details you have given that your husband is an employee and should be taxed under the PAYE system as before. The decision as to whether a person is employed or self-employed lies with the Scope section of the Department of Social Protection (not the employer or employee) You can contact them about this.
 
Back
Top