Is there a UK equivalent to TurboTax?

Is there any tax preparation software like TurboTax that one can use to help navigate the tax system here in the UK?

Thanks,

Clarelynn

have you been told to do self-assessment in the UK?  if not, you do not have to file taxed yourself (although it may be beneficial for you to do so)

If you are not UK domiciled & have a dollar or two (or more in non-UK income) eg US bank interest or dividends) then it is mandatory you file each year claiming to be taxable on the remittance basis.  We are expecting further written guidance from the UKs HMRC in the next few months.

but if you have US income that you DON'T remit to the uk, you don't have to file taxes.  correct?

No - this is not correct.  You have to file a UK return each year claiming to be taxable on the remittance basis unless your total income is below the level of your UK personal allowance.

Yes, I do have to do self-assessment, as I'm self-employed here in the UK. (To complicate matters, the Musicians Union says I also have to pay taxes on earnings through my company that's still active back in the US). It's complicated. So I was hoping there might be something like TurboTax for taxes here that would help step through reporting foreign interest income, foreign dividend income, and claiming the foreign tax credit so I'm not paying too much.

Thanks,

Clarelynn

If this really is a company then you will have to file UK corporate tax returns, plus UK self-employed returns...there is no DIY software for this that I know of...

It's not a corporation or a limited company. I operate as a sole trader in the UK and a sole proprietor in the US.

OK - in that case the UK is quite staightforward.  You report worldwide income & expenses from self-employment (the remittance basis is not relevant for self-employment) and claim credit in the UK for the US tax (Federal & State) on the doubly-taxed income.

You also escape having to pay US SET (but you can still pay it if you wish to preserve US social security benefits).

Great -- my only remaining question is, then, how do I translate my dollar income into pounds for purposes of reporting it here in the UK? I have dozens of small sales and expenses (under $50)...do I need to look up the exchange rate on the date of each sale, or can I use the exchange rate on one day and apply that to all the transactions throughout the year?

Thanks,

Clarelynn

Hi Clarelynn,

Yes there is equivalent software in the UK - I was part of the team that made it!

I worked for Intuit and at the time the UK product was called 'TaxCalc' - when Intuit decided to reduce UK operations TaxCalc and Quicken were pulled along with my job.

However, the IP property of TaxCalc was sold to another company who continue to market a product called err.. TaxCalc! you can find them here http://www.taxcalc.com/

guya knows all about the 'tax rules' whereas I helped make the software work in terms of IT and so my working knowledge of tax laws/requirements is a little thin. But, I'm almost 100% sure that for what you need to do, the software will calculate for you and you'll be able to file online

I won't bore you in terms of the amount of testing/programming we did to make the program work - but we were the market leader from a team of 8!

Hope this helps
DtM! West London & Slough UK

Cool Dennis...  Quicken and QuickBooks UK still lag horribly behind the US versions though...  Of course a bit silly for Intuit to get into the business of UK Tax Reporting since, even the self assessment, is about 100x easier then the States.

You would normally use the average exchange rate for your accounting year.  As a self-employed person you can choose any year-end date you like.  Many Americans choose to use the calendar year because it is easier to have consistent UK and US accounts each year.

As Dennis says this doesn't mean the UK tax rules are a piece of cake, because you'll still have complications in deciding what the best answers are.