Moorron
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 posted on 26/1/11 at 05:49 PM |
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Self employed and Bank Q's
Hi guy i know some of you are self employed so might be able to help me out. Going to be a long life story.....
My GF went Self employed about 4 years ago as a haidresser, we did it for work conditions and money wasnt that important as i pay the bills round here
lol. When she started we went to hsbc to set up a second account to leave all her work transaction and NI payments in one place so its easy to see her
work money from personal money. We have our main joint account, savingings account and her own normal account with them (mine is with barclays).
What they did is push us into a business acount which was free for 18 months. We didnt really want this as her transactions are simple and small. But
back then we were both shy and took it, but now she pays on average £15 a month to just pay 4 cheques and some cash in once a week. I was made
redundant last year so we are trying to save as much money as possible and its seemed stupid to pay £180 a year for what i see as no benifit.
So we went in last week to close it down and open just a normal account for her work. They wouldnt do it, even when i said we where happy to have a
premium account which gave us 'free' insurance, AA cover and the like for only £13 a month. In other words i was willing to pay a monthly
fee but this time get something back in return which we didnt get on her business account. They still wouldnt do it saying you cant use any of these
accounts for business purposes. This and the fact they lied to us on that day about not having a business adviser yet one turned up as soon as i said
close the account. So we closed the business account, transfered the little money from it into her other account and then left. We are now in the
process of setting up an account at Barclays for her business.
My point to this thread:- is it a legal requirement (from the banks side not the tax man) to have a business account to pay in 4 cheques and some cash
each week? her turnover is less than £13K per year and no other payments are made except her 'wage' and her yearly tax return. Im that
angry at Hsbc and the way they have spoke to us that i am thinking of changing all our accounts to any other bank.
any tips?
Sorry about my spelling, im an engineer and only work in numbers.
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steve m
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| posted on 26/1/11 at 06:05 PM |
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I cant advise on the account side of things, but why would ypu pay cash into a buisness or any other account from her earnings?
Surely anything paid in would be taxable
I would kick the HSBC account, and open a normal Building society type, and only pay in cheques
But as i said at the top, i am not really in a postion to advise !
Regards
Steve
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ironside
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| posted on 26/1/11 at 06:07 PM |
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No it's not a legal requirement, you could do it with a separate personal account only (I assume she's not Ltd)
If you do like the business account though, Santander do a fee-free one forever rather than 18 months.
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jollygreengiant
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| posted on 26/1/11 at 06:10 PM |
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I'm self employed, I have a personal (joint) account with barclays and a private account with Nationwide. I use the nationwide to pay in any
cheques I receive from business and also as a saver account for my income tax. The income tax and all other bills get paid out of the Barclays
account.
I have never had it queried.
Beware of the Goldfish in the tulip mines. The ONLY defence against them is smoking peanut butter sandwiches.
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PSpirine
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| posted on 26/1/11 at 06:13 PM |
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Just close the HSBC account and open a personal one in Barclays for her. You may even get some cashback if you use quidco etc.
Plus means you have one less bank to deal with when depositing cheques etc.
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plentywahalla
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| posted on 26/1/11 at 06:24 PM |
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The problem is they now know it is a business account.
Under banking code of practice rules and also FSA and Bank of England rules they must structure the account differently. They would be breaking the
law to issue you with a personal account knowing it was to be used for operating a business.
So don't be too hard on them, although they obviously need some customer service training. Just open a No.2 account saying its to help you
manage your domestic budgeting.
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Moorron
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| posted on 26/1/11 at 06:37 PM |
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cheers guys sounds like i am right then.
I can understand a business account if she had a building to rent, employees to pay and alot of bills for the business but its not like that. Its so
simple our main joint account with all the household bills uses more resources and thats free.
We pay all payments into the account, so its all taxed because we are not going to defraud the taxman. She earns so little she hardly pays much tax on
it anyway. simple people simple lives i suppose 
Yep, i thought the same, one bank for all our accounts even our own ones. Barclays has always been good with me but HSBC seemed right from the start
to push things, when we first moved in together over 12 years ago we set up all these accounts with HSBC and even then they gave us a credit card, we
said we didnt want it, no need and no temptation yet they still gave it after i said 'no' 3 or 4 times. We just cut up the card when we
recieved it. I feel the bank paid commision it was that obvious.
I was told by a friend banks will give free stuff to get you to change your accounts to them, im off on google to find out if we get anything for
changing all our accounts to Barclays.
Thanks guys
ps, she has an accountant. But all they do is her tax return each year from her well maintained books. This to me looks like an online form they fill
a few pages in. Can we do this ourselves too or is it best to let the quilified guys do it (cost about £150 a year too).
Sorry about my spelling, im an engineer and only work in numbers.
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plentywahalla
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| posted on 26/1/11 at 06:47 PM |
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Do your own tax return and save the money. On line filing is so simple. It looks daunting at first but 95% of the boxes you just ignore beacuse they
are not relevent to a small one person business. The helpline people are really helpful and actually speak human
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NS Dev
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| posted on 26/1/11 at 07:29 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by plentywahalla
Do your own tax return and save the money. On line filing is so simple. It looks daunting at first but 95% of the boxes you just ignore beacuse they
are not relevent to a small one person business. The helpline people are really helpful and actually speak human
ditto in our experience
We use a santander personal account for our business
Retro RWD is the way forward...........automotive fabrication, car restoration, sheetmetal work, engine conversion
retro car restoration and tuning
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Moorron
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| posted on 26/1/11 at 08:18 PM |
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even better cheers lads.
The Locost Way!
Sorry about my spelling, im an engineer and only work in numbers.
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JoelP
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| posted on 26/1/11 at 08:19 PM |
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i run everything through my personnal account - about half a million quid so far! Sadly, very little of it profit 
Your tax return is so easy its stupid. If you are only turning over £13k, there is literally 3 boxes to fill in. You dont have to itemise anything,
its simply in, out and profit.
I use an accountant for the employees taxes, and do my own returns.
Beware! Bourettes is binfectious.
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Moorron
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| posted on 26/1/11 at 08:37 PM |
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As we got the accountants copy after the first year it was clear it was an online form, like you said with most of the pages ignored. But we let them
do it as we wanted to keep it looking professional. But i dont think its worth it for £150.
Sorry about my spelling, im an engineer and only work in numbers.
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NS Dev
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| posted on 26/1/11 at 10:18 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by JoelP
i run everything through my personnal account - about half a million quid so far! Sadly, very little of it profit
Your tax return is so easy its stupid. If you are only turning over £13k, there is literally 3 boxes to fill in. You dont have to itemise anything,
its simply in, out and profit.
I use an accountant for the employees taxes, and do my own returns.
sorry to divert thread, but for turnover over 13k what else is there (worried I've missed something now!)
Retro RWD is the way forward...........automotive fabrication, car restoration, sheetmetal work, engine conversion
retro car restoration and tuning
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JoelP
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| posted on 27/1/11 at 07:54 AM |
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13k isnt the limit, i cant remember what it is - lets say 20 for the sake of an argument. When this point is passed, i believe they want your expenses
in categories such as rent, fuel, purchases, insurance, wages etc, rather than just lumped together.
It has been a while since i paid proper attention to it though!
Beware! Bourettes is binfectious.
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Ninehigh
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| posted on 27/1/11 at 09:28 AM |
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Tell them you're closing the account, if needed get another one elsewhere and if they ask what it's for tell them it's for putting
money in. Send HSBC notification in writing that you're closing it and if they don't it's their problem. When those charges pile up
tell the debt collectors you closed it on that date and there was nothing outstanding. Stick to your guns
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JoelP
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| posted on 27/1/11 at 01:20 PM |
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my wife got blagged into an HSBC premium account, basically £15 a month for nothing of use - junk like a cheap overdraft etc. All that was useable was
breakdown cover and travel insurance, both of which can be had cheaper.
Beware! Bourettes is binfectious.
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