Taxing questions

Happy New Year! 

Ok so I am a bit late, but less than a fortnight late.  Happy New Financial Year.  End of year accounts, and the arrival on the doorstep of my Self Assesment Tax Return.  In the UK at least all clergy have to  do individual tax returns because of our particularly odd sets of rules, tied housing used as place of work etc.

Cue the start of an online discussion amongst us about tax forms.  There are accountants who specialise in clerical finance and it can get complicated especially if we have a property elsewhere that is being rented out or otherwise retained ready for retirement when we move out of the church house.

Given the scariness of official forms at the best of times I don't blame people for seeking out the expert help in completing the paperwork. In the same way I would take a rattling car to the garage, because it is important that things are done correctly.  But the reactions to my DIY approach to my tax forms have got me thinking.

Basically I am not intimidated by forms, and have enough maths to feel that I can go it alone, that and a good dose of miser genes means that I am too stubborn to pay someone else.  (Another example: I could do with help mowing the garden but when I was quoted £25 a time - it is a lot of grass - with the expectation that I would commit to fortnightly I decided to do it myself.  So whilst it doesn't get cut as often, I get to feel rich in terms of money saved when I do get around to it. And sometimes the gardening fairies from church take pity on me too.)

When I announced to the tax conversation that I do my own forms there seemed to be shock, several comments referred to how much their tax advisor had saved them various amounts of money, and therefore worth the fee.

I am fortunate that my household living costs are not as high as others (I don't have the expensive joys of children for example) and am aware that for other clergy life is much tighter financially so I don't begrudge them claiming what is lawfully theirs.  These thoughts relate only to my personal situation and what I personally should do.

If I were to go to a tax advisor they would I'm sure find lots of things that I am not claiming tax relief for in my DIY form, things to do with my job and valid to claim. However whilst I am happy to claim what I do, I don't feel comfortable examining lots of tiny corners to make sure I avoid as much tax as possible. And why should I use what I save from paying to the public purse to pay a particular individual or business?

Whatever the (very valid) arguments about how tax is spent and who should pay what, it is something very necessary in a shared society.  I have had a number of extra years as a non taxpayer - including whilst training for this job - and as a child I was fed and clothed for a number of years through the tax system.  Why should I now try and avoid it? Especially if it means going out of my way and spending lots of money (though I am sure that would be tax-efficient in some way).

And yet I am happy to Gift Aid my donations to charities including the churches - and so chunks of my paid tax go back out of the public purse and off to my chosen groups.  Does that make me a hypocrite - taking an allegedly moral high ground about not claiming every jot and tittle on my tax return whilst taking funds away from the system elsewhere? Or does one balance out the other so I am just average? Or maybe I am just lazy and only prepared to keep the easy records through the year - a tax advisor might demand more homework from me than my DIY version!

On the other hand they wouldn't have to correct a number on the form after it has been written in - I really should have gone to hunt for that missing pencil!!