Foreign.

And welcome to the Pat Accounting Podcast with me, your host, Vicky Clark.

I'm going to help you get to grips with your finances, save you lots of money and take the stress out of doing your tax return.

So let's get going.

Hello and welcome to the Christmas special of the Pet Accountant.

We have the lovely Lee with us today.

He's been avoiding us for the last few months for one reason or another, but I have dragged him on for the last educational podcast of 2025 because next week I've got the lovely Charlotte Perrott on and we're going to start talking lots of marketing things and social media.

So this will be the last tax related podcast of 2025.

So, so why not do one on?

Have you taken my Christmas special banner down?

I haven't touched your banners because I'm not allowed.

I've logged in as a guest today so I can't do anything.

Oh you see, haha.

Someone took my Christmas special.

So we are going to do a Christmas special because we do get comments and questions about what people can claim for Christmas and what they can't.

So we're going to do a little bit of role play today and Lee doesn't know what I'm going to ask him, so he's primed and ready and I'm going to pretend that I am a dog groomer, walker, trainer, boarder, pet shop all rolled into one and I'm just going to fire some Christmas related questions at Lee as if I was one of you guys and then we'll see what the answers are.

I put polos in the group and I asked if other people would like them me to ask you the questions and that's what should happen.

They would like that because I would allow everything, whereas you don't.

So that's why it's best to listen to you and not me.

Because people would be like, can I put my walking boots through?

And I'd be like, yes, of course you can.

Makes sense.

So this is why we ask Lee these questions because people do one.

No, you can't, you can't, you can't, you can't.

And, and that's the same with chiropractors.

A massager, for the nine millionth time.

He can't do it.

But right, so.

And he has literally no idea, guys, what we're asking him.

Not a clue.

We just made it up on the spot.

I don't even know what I'm going to ask him.

So we'll see how it goes.

And if you do have Any questions that you would like to pose to Lee, then please pop them in the comments.

Even if they're not Christmas related, he'll answer them.

It's Ask Lady.

Is that mastermind for Lady.

Is that the.

Is that the program?

Cool.

It could well be.

It's just that there was a power cut that we had the other day and I've been up since 3:00 the morning before, so I'm a little bit tired.

Excuses, excuses.

The short and sweet.

That's what we like.

Short and sweet.

Right.

Question number one.

I am a dog walker, SL groomer and it's Christmas.

So I would like to give my clients, poor parents.

Parents, a little gift for Christmas.

And what I've decided to do is I'm gonna get some.

Well, actually, I'm gonna give my clients the gift.

I'm gonna get some little dog treats and put them in a nice little cellophane wrapper and stick my logo and details on the front as a gift.

Can I claim this as an expense?

Hi, Jack.

Hi, Jack.

The answer is yes, you can.

The important thing here is that it's a form of advertising.

So your details and your branding is what makes it allowable.

If you give gifts that doesn't have any of your branding on, then they're not allowable.

It would be classed as client entertaining, which is a disallowable expense for tax purposes.

So make them allowable by sticking your contact details and your branding on them.

Fabulous.

Right?

I am a dog groomer and I would like to give my clients.

Sorry, the dogs are kicking off.

Would like to give my client a gift for just being the best clients in the world and not whinging.

When I put the prices up and I want to buy them all a bottle of wine or Prosecco and some chocolates.

Is that a real difficult one?

Because the answer is no, it's not allowable.

The fact is, is food and.

And alcohol, which isn't.

Which is basically client entertaining.

So you wouldn't get tax relief for that even if you stuck your logo on there.

And so food and alcohol is.

Is not.

Is not allowed.

Because someone did put on, I think Tegan did a graphic about stuff and someone said, but what if I want to buy my client some chocolate?

So that's not allowed because it's food.

Yeah.

So chocolates and booze, or food and booze is a.

No, no.

But if you want to get them something with stuff, sticky label on, like.

Dog treats or whatever, diaries, pens.

Yeah.

Then that is allowable.

So there we go.

Right.

I am just thinking of these on the spot.

I am a soul trader and I have subcontractors that work for me.

I'm a dog walker and I've got two dog walking subcontractors that work for me and I want to go out for a Christmas meal and get drunk.

Is that an allowable expense?

No, unfortunately not.

The issue around this is that if they were employees on your books and on the payroll scheme being reported to HMRC as such, then you'll get up to 150 pounds per head for every employee that you have.

Now bear in mind as a, as a sole trader, you're not an employee, so the 150 pound doesn't apply to you, but only to the number of members of staff you have on the payroll.

So with these guys being subcontractors, unfortunately there's no allowance that you're allowed that to take them out to have part.

Even take yourself out.

No, you're not a soul trader or partnership, I'm afraid.

But direct.

We can't even take.

You can't even take yourself out for a meal.

A meal for one still not allowable.

Yeah, I mean you could spend the business money on it, but it, you'd be taxed as if you didn't.

So it's, it's up to you.

It's a nice gesture, but you're not going to receive tax relief on it.

However, if you're a limited company.

Yes, let's go into that.

The rest are on the payroll.

Fish, you know, if you're, you're taking the minimum salary, 12 hours, it doesn't matter how much salary you're taking, but as long as you're on the payroll, it's being reported as such, then you are an employee and you do get £150 that you can spend on yourself for the party.

And the key thing here is that you can have multiple parties throughout the year, but it must, the collective of those parties must not exceed £150 including the VAT.

If it does, you'll be taxed on the parties that you've had.

So if you keep it below £150 collectively throughout the year, there's no tax.

It's an allowable expense and it gets your tax bill down as well.

So there you go.

Perks of being a limited company, I guess.

What else was.

I was going to.

It's got to be at least one or two.

With a limited company you get taxed left, right and said otherwise.

Well, yeah, boo to Rachel Reeves and there was There was something to do with that.

I was going to say, and I can't remember what it was.

Okay, I could see you.

There wasn't much planning for today's live.

I have done lots of planning.

We do have.

We do every live.

Oh, that was it.

If you want to get your staff gifts, does that work the same way with subcontractors and staff?

I.

If you want to buy them like a gift card, how does that work?

So again, the key here is they have to be on the payroll, otherwise it's a form of entertainment.

If your staff are on the payroll, if you're a director, you're limited to six 50 pound vouchers or six lots of 50 pounds that you can spend on yourself.

It's an allowable tax deductible expense without a benefit in kind tax being charged if you're an employee or if you have employees.

Again, it's still the 50 pound limit, but there's no limit on the number of times that you can give it to them.

As long as it's not contractual, then the £50 that you give the staff is a tax deductible expense.

Now that can be in the form of a gift card as long as the gift card can't be exchanged for money.

So it can't be a money voucher, but as long as it's not performance related or contractual and you give it as a, like a birthday or a Christmas present, then absolutely.

Up to 50 pounds each for each member of staff.

Claim it against your tax and no issues at all.

But again, the employees, they're not subcontractors.

If it's subcontractor, it's a form of entertainment and it's disallowed for tax purposes.

So employee people.

Don't use sub.

Don't use subcontractors.

Get them on the payroll.

There's some perks to.

There are benefits of having them on the payroll.

Yeah, we do give our staff little cheeky vouchers for their birthdays.

It was our Sophie's 18th birthday yesterday and I know she's watching because I can see it on the phone.

So happy birthday.

She's now become an adult.

Maybe we'll get her on the podcast at some point next year.

She probably dive.

Yeah.

Here in this.

But we'll drag.

We'll drag her on so everyone can see who Sophie is.

He works alongside Emily.

Right.

I'm trying to think of some more Christmassy related questions other than gifts.

Staff parties, can you take your clients out for dinner?

Okay, so again, no well, for God's sake, Scrooge.

Scrooge.

HMRC.

Yeah, but you've got to think, looking from HMRC's point of view, whilst it's nice, it's, it's money that's not really helping, you're directly helping your business.

You could claim that I'll get more business back from it, but ultimately it is a form of entertainment.

It's a way of, you know, spending money on, on alcohol and food.

So it, it really doesn't directly relate and transform into sales.

Does build.

What happens if you take an affair?

What happens if you're taking a prospective client for dinner or to schmooze them into becoming client?

Doesn't make you, you're still entertaining.

So.

And I think they, they stopped that back in the 80s.

Why can't we take them somewhere really boring?

So it's not entertain, they're not entertained, but we still buy them dinner.

But here's the thing, if you do take a client out, that is as a form of a, of a business meeting in terms to generate more business, there is an argument that you may be able to claim your meal and your drink as an allowable expense because you are doing a.

Performing a business function whilst you're there, but the clients, one that you pay for, that's not allowable.

And again, you have to keep agendas and meeting notes and other bits and pieces that can justify this meeting that you had with the client for that expense.

Because if you just start putting loads of money through for food and drink that you've had because you decided to go here and there and lunch other bits and pieces, that's not allowable.

So remember, these meetings have to be outside of your usual working habits in order for them to be allowable.

So there are exceptions to that rule.

But mainly it's only your meal that would be allowable if you were entertaining a prospective client in order to gain business from it.

But their meal is entertaining and disallowable for tax purposes.

And this is why, guys, you should have an accountant so they can tell you the difference between all these different crappy rules by hmrc.

They need to change them.

That's ridiculous.

Anyway, we have got a question from the lovely Helen.

I've made some soaps.

Can I gift my soaps to my customers and then bill myself?

No, unfortunately not.

Helen, you can't bill yourself because you are the business and you are the sole trade.

The fact is that your soaps can be given and maybe the materials that you've, you've.

You've bought the soaps, you go to make the soaps, they could become an allowable expense.

As long as those soaps had a form of advertising of your business on, then they can be given as a gift to you, as an advertising gift to your clients.

But you can't bill yourself for your time or anything along those lines in respect to them.

Good doom and gloom for our Christmas special, guys.

I'm sorry, I. I want to.

I want to.

A question that I know is going to say yes to, but I feel like there isn't any.

Apart from buying some doggy treats and putting them in a bag or a box and sticking your label on it and giving them to clients.

And that is allowed.

That's probably the only thing I can think of that you can have.

Oh, here's a good one.

I am a dog groomer and I've got a home salon and I want to buy some Christmas decorations, like a little Christmas tree to put a me little reception bit and some tins and whatever.

Can I claim those as an expense?

Okay, so this is one we have to be really careful with.

So if you're a home groomer and you have a dedicated building at home that is separate from arguments like your front living room or the kitchen or something along those lines, you've got a dedicated space where your clients actually enter, then you can buy bits and pieces to decorate that space.

Seasonal decorations.

It doesn't have to be Christmas.

It could be, you know, Halloween, Autumn, anything along those lines.

Valentine's Day.

If you've got clients going into that space, then absolutely you can buy trinkets and other bits and pieces.

Yeah.

For that purpose.

I feel it is.

Because if it's inside your home, then anything that you buy inside your home to decorate is the duality of use.

So where you can't accurately measure the business proportion to the personal usage of it, it's disallowed in its entirety.

So if you do groom from home in, in your home, then things like Christmas trees and other bits and pieces would generally be disallowed, unless there's a specific space, usually outside in the garden or somewhere, which is dedicated to business use.

But be very careful because anything that's dedicated 100% to business use means that you'll have to pay capital gains tax on the house when you come to sell it based on the business usage of that space.

So as an accountancy firm, we would always, always recommend that you have dual usage of every single space, I. E. You use it personally for something.

So if You've got a home office.

Turn it into a music area where you go and play the piano or the cello or whatever it is, but, but something that you use the space for.

Me personally, I watch movies and I've got, you know, a comfy chair and I can, in the evenings I can go and set up a large TV and watch and watch a movie.

And that's my personal usage of the.

There was a joke I could.

I was going to say that, but it's not PG for 12 o' clock on a Thursday so I will keep it to myself.

So for example, I was gonna.

It was more clarinet.

Same thing but bigger.

So for example, a dog border obviously boards from home and they put a Christmas tree and whatever.

They're not going to be able to claim that because that's just in their general living room making their living room look messy.

That's it.

But someone that's got a green salon in the garden that the clients go in specifically for that they could put a Christmas tree outside and whatever.

Yeah, yeah, well we got, we got a half.

Yes, there guys outside would be very.

Careful because again you're in the garden space.

So this is duality inside the space.

You could put it in there.

So guys, take your Christmas trees from outside your grooming salon door and put them inside photos.

Otherwise drag it back, Scrooge, HMRC will come and find you and say you've got your Christmas tree outside and not inside.

So there we go.

What else?

Come on.

There must be other Christmas related ones that we've seen.

Carl, there's loads of ways that people can save money with their taxes.

It doesn't have to be just around Christmas.

So for argument's sake, if you've got somebody that's over the age of 13 but under the age of 16 and you pay them for pocket money and that pocket money encompasses use, you know, then helping you around your business, whether it's sweeping the floors, helping you back dogs, helping you walk the dogs, if they help for that money, you can actually put that money through your, your books as an allowable expense to reduce your taxation.

Now the money that you pay them has to be in proportion for what you would pay somebody else of the same job.

You couldn't say aha, little Johnny Hels who walk the dogs are paid in 50 grand this year.

Doesn't work like that.

It has to be, you know, proportionate.

But what is if you were multi millionaire and 50 grand was pocket money.

But then it has to be what you'd pay somebody Else, not just a family member.

So again, there's rules and regulations around it, but generally if you pay somebody pocket money that's between the eight.

And remember there are strict rules with employing somebody between the ages of 13 and 16, so you have to make sure you follow those and your local councils as well.

But it is an option and a way of reducing your tax burden if you do have children that you do pay to to help around.

Actually, I've seen quite a few clients add that into their spreadsheets and stuff since we gave everyone that little tidbit and so it shows that they are listening to the podcast.

We are listening quite if quite a few more people live paid their kids for pocket money for doing stuff.

So put it in, that's it.

And you know, I think again, if I'm looking at.

Because we're in the height of self assessment seizing at the moment, honest to God, it's like Groundhog Day with the numbers that we're going through.

There's a common theme of certain things, of the basic expenses that people are forgetting about and forgetting to put on their spreadsheets, forgetting to include in their records, you know, like the use of your mobile phone.

Just because you pay it personally from a different account, that doesn't mean we can't include elements of your mobile phone in your accounts as an allowable expense.

So you need to tell us that you are using your mobile for business, you know, your business insurance that needs to go in there as well, that people forget about the use of your car if you, you know, I understand that you may not use your car to pick up and drop off dogs, whatever profession that you're in.

However, if you do use the car for business purposes.

Now a business purpose could be as simple as going to the shop to buy stationary because you needed paper or, or, or print ink that if you record the miles that you've done.

But it has to be specific for the business.

It couldn't be you've gone to the shop for your tea and you've picked up stationery there and then because it's then incidental and.

But if you specifically use the vehicle for going out to a client or to go to a suppliers, these are all business miles and they're all miles that we can claim at 45 pence against your tax bill.

So keep a log of them, they all add up as the year goes on and you'll be surprised by how much they can actually help reduce your tax bill by.

Yeah, I think there's a theme of People not putting stuff through that is because they've paid it on their personal card and it's not going through the account.

They use a business and they go well it's all right because I didn't, I bought all my poo bags on my personal card and the treats and I'm like yeah, that's fine, we can still have it.

Look at all.

And then they give you like another three grands worth of expenses that they put on their personal card which obviously makes a massive difference to the tax bill.

So.

Yeah, definitely, definitely.

And I think one of the other ones as well that, that, that people generally forget about is the, the use of home element as well.

So if you do work from home there's a percentage or a proportion that we can claim for.

Now some of the clients will be better off where we use actual expenses and we look at the proportion and the different rooms that they use at different hours, much more difficult to, to work out.

And there's a onus on the client as well to be able to tell us how much they use each room for, for business purposes.

But that can, if you certainly groom from home and you use a specific room or you've got a grooming pod in the garden, that can be much more beneficial than the, the HMRC flat rate.

But again we look at both.

If the client is a dog walker then flat rate is much more beneficial and they'll need to fill that questionnaire in because whatever you put on it, it's that the flat rate is always going to be worth a little bit more than, than you know, the working it out individually.

But certainly whenever you come to us for your account we send you a questionnaire that asks that question so that we can assess what's going to be the best method for you.

If you don't use us.

If you don't use us, you can buy the utilities calculator from our website which like I say is a lot more useful for people that work from home.

So home boarders, home groomers, stuff like that, dog walkers who are predominantly outside and not in their house, then I probably wouldn't buy it because it's not going to be worth it.

Small for people who physically work from home like the borders and the groomers that are going to see the most benefit from it.

And obviously if you are a client then please don't purchase it because we use it for you anyway.

Yeah.

So just, yeah, don't go wasting your money having a look because we give it to you anyway.

Some of the other Examples of mistakes that I've seen people make as well is when they're providing figures to us, they're not for the dates that we need and they may include like fragments, say the tax year runs from 6th April 2024 to 5th April 2025.

If, if you've included all of April 2025 in your sales figure, for argument's sake, you're going to be paying tax on what is from the 5th to the 30th of April when you shouldn't be.

So it's really important that when you provide your figures and when you're doing your own tax returns that you're only including sales and expenses between those very two specific dates.

I mean, some people will have a slight difference.

You might run from the 1st of April to the 31st of March.

But again, that's fine just as long as the information that you include within those accounts, within that tax return only happens between those two dates.

And it's really important that you don't mix those dates year in, year out as well.

So once you've elected the date, you want to stick with that from one tax year to the next.

So that's another key one where people are potentially paying twice the tax on a set free because next year we will look at the sales from the 5th of April, but if you've already put them in the previous years, you'll be double taxed on that without realizing it.

So dates are really key there.

And also with mileage and fuel, you can't switch between them every year, which we do see a few clients do one minute their mileage, the next minute their fuel.

Once you picked it, you have to stick with it unless your vehicle changes.

So again, make sure that you do get confused with mileage and fuel.

And again, that becomes more complex if you buy a car or van, but we'll not go into that now.

But yeah, just be mindful that you.

Don'T change picking that once you've picked the 45 pence a mile, that's everything relating to that car.

So car washes, insurance, tax, fuel, maintenance, absolutely everything was related to that car is included in the 45 pence.

So don't be putting other motor related expenses in your accounts as well, because you're not allowed.

And on the flip side, if you, if you opted to claim actual expenses where you are claiming the fuel, the moat, the insurance, the maintenance, the tax payments, that means that you've got to put absolutely every single receipt through.

You can't cherry pick which ones you think are business and which ones are personal.

All the fuel that goes into that vehicle has to go in your accounts and at the end of the year you take that figure and you say, right, I've used it for 90% business and 10% personal.

So you have to take 10% of the total figure away.

You can't just cherry pick the receipts you want to put through because then that's not a true reflection of your usage of that vehicle.

So again, be mindful that once you've elected which option to use, you stay and you put everything through that you should be for that vehicle and then adjust it at the end once you've got a total.

So there we go, you see, we are full of useful tips for Christmas.

2025 wasn't the one.

What's the other weird one we found not long ago about bicycle mileage?

Yeah, you can ride a bike as well.

So, yeah, if you ride a bike purposes, you can.

Bicycle mileage.

So there you go.

Remember, if the bike mileage goes through, you can't put the bike purchase through.

So there we go.

Yeah, like.

But there might be people that cycle to you.

Yeah.

So.

And I wouldn't have known about bicycle mileage if I wasn't in this job.

So there you go.

Bicycle mileage.

For all those fitness fanatics out there.

We'Ve had a good one today.

That's come up.

That's a short or long?

No, no, short, short.

So a home border has had some damage done to the property as a result of one of the dogs that they were boarding.

So for argument's sake, it could be absolutely anything.

It could be the side of the cupboard, it could be a rug, carpet.

Doesn't matter what was done, it could be a carpet.

So here's the thing.

If the item to start with isn't business related and, you know, specifically for the purpose of business, just because it's in your home, it doesn't make it business related if it's damaged as a result of the business goings, on, I. E. You're a home boarder, you've got dogs there and dogs have chewed and damaged something, maybe a sofa.

That is an insurance claim.

It is not an allowable expense on your tax return.

You're replacing and repairing an item that is not business related and therefore not tax deductible if the item was something that was in the business.

So maybe you had bought recently a.

Let's say you have dog cages, for whatever reason, you may have dog cages at home, they damage the dog Cage because the item was damaged to start with and it was a business related expense, the repair to that item is.

Is allowable or the replacement of the item is allowable because it was business related to start with.

But where again, remember what we said, if you can't accurately measure the personal and business split of an item, it's disallowed in its entirety and is not allowable.

So if the dog chewed a rug, there's no business relation for a rug being within the business accounts to start with.

You can't accurately measure how much of the rug is for business and how much is for personal use.

So therefore the rug's not allowable.

The dog chews it and damages it.

You need to claim on your house insurance the payout from the house insurance isn't taxable because it was never an allowable expense to start with.

So that you can then go back out and rebuy the rug using the insurance money.

So just, just be mindful there that if you are home boarding and things are being damaged, it doesn't make it an allowable business expense just because it happened whilst at work.

And this can go for dog walkers with glasses.

We've had it in the past where somebody's glasses has been damaged as a result of the client's dog doing something and therefore they've tried to claim the glass a new set of glasses as a business expense.

It's not how it happens.

So that the glasses are not allowable to start with.

Unless you're using a computer screen and the, the ophthalmologist tells you that the you specifically require glasses to use.

Even I couldn't get my work.

It must be only and for work beauty screens.

And then glasses may be allowable, but general glasses, general eyesight, I need them to drive, I need them to see things close up, I need to see them far away.

I need them to see your lovely face every day.

So I feel like that should be allowable.

Helen's put that's good.

The boarding rabbits and guinea pigs nibble holes in the fleeces that go in their apartments.

Yeah.

So the fleeces, Helen, would be allowable because you're buying them to keep the guinea pigs warm and they're going to be like a consumable item for yourself because you'll constantly be repair and replace them.

You need them purely and simply.

They perform a business function in what you offer.

If the guinea pig escaped and chewed through your sofa cushion, then that's the bit that wouldn't be allowable and you'd have to replace the cushion yourself at your own pocket or claim on your insurance.

I used to have two long haired guinea pigs.

They were cute.

Cute as a button.

Right.

What else?

I think that's probably it for today.

And our Christmas special that we've done.

Oh no, I've frozen.

Although I'm back so I will be.

I know I will be back next week on Tuesday.

I think with the lovely Charlotte talking about all things marketing and social media and the upcoming Pet Pro Expo that she is coming back for next October.

If you haven't got your.

That's looking really exciting actually.

Yes, please, please, please buy them before we sell out.

We are going to be releasing one of our new speakers tonight.

So keep your eyes peeled on the social media.

Oh, is it tonight?

Okay.

Oh no, not that one.

A different one.

No, not, not the keynote speaker.

Just another.

So we've got three speakers returning.

Bill, Romany and Charlotte.

And then we've got four potential new speakers.

Two, three of which have been confirmed.

The keynote speaker we are going to release next week.

I feel like that's when the tickets will go a bit crazy.

And tonight because if you haven't got your tickets, grab them now because you might not get them when the keynote speaker has been released.

Ladies, especially you will want to see this keynote speaker.

He is easy on the eyes.

The Chip and Chippendales.

So yes, please, please, please grab them.

I don't know, I think it's Magic Mike now, isn't it?

Rather than Chippendales.

Because the Chippendales were like when my mom was going out, I used to call them.

They were just a little tad older and a little bit.

Yes, yes.

Yeah.

Bit fatter, bit gray.

It's a walking stick that they're now swinging around.

Yes.

A Zimmer.

So yes, please make sure we time the nail the Zimmer deals.

Yeah, please make sure you people probably think we have.

We haven't got naked men.

Please don't buy based on that.

We haven't.

Unless we strip.

Imagine the reviews on that.

Didn't consider this one person.

Yeah.

Can't leave a paid this money and there's no naked men on the stage.

But you did strip one of the clients at the last.

I did.

So that's not.

I did not rule it out.

If, if you know, you know, if you were there you'd know exactly what happened.

I can't confirm nor deny.

So you'll have to make sure that you come to the next export to see if I strip Kevin again which is Highly likely.

But yes, the online tickets are on sale, the in person tickets are on sale.

It's in Birmingham the 3rd of October 2026.

And I say we release one of our speakers tonight, who's big, big, big.

And we've got all bases covered, groomers, walkers, borders, everybody.

So it doesn't matter who you are.

Spare specific to an industry.

No, we try and get speakers that are sort of in the various different sectors to spread it out, but the, the chat that they will do will all be generic business topics, so it doesn't matter who you are.

And like I said, we may even have the chance of a bonus day on the Sunday, but that'll only be for 30 people.

So again, keep your eyes peeled on social media for that and grab a ticket because it's going to be a big one.

Other than that, I will see you next week, but Lee will see you in 2026.

So to all our clients who have.

I know, who have not got their paperwork to us yet and there is a large amount of you, please do, please, please, please send it because we do go on holiday on the 19th of December, which is a week tomorrow, and then we have two weeks off and we're back on the 5th or 6th of January.

So please, please, please get us your stuff now because we do not want a mad rush in January to get it done.

So please, if you haven't sent this yet, let us know.

Send, send, send a quick one from me.

Yeah, A couple of people have left voicemails after we've closed thinking that we're still open.

So our, our telephone lines are open Monday to Friday, 8am till 4pm to be fair, I think it's my fault because I think on the voicemail it says at be closed that we're open till 5, but we're not.

The phone lines are open Monday to Friday, 8am till 4pm so if you do need us, please give us a call during those times.

If you do leave us a voicemail and we are closed, we usually will call you about in the morning after anyway.

But just be mindful that it is 4pm, that the phones go to voicemails.

And if you need some extra time or anything like that, then please just let us know so that we can manage our time in January because there's still over 100 people who haven't got us their paperwork.

And to do 100 tax returns, contrary to popular belief, will not take five minutes because they are complex.

I know people say they did theirs in two minutes, but hey, ho, Maybe me and Leah just incredibly slow, but that does take a lot of time.

So please get them in if you haven't.

If you are one of those that are thinking, shit, I should have got an accountant because I don't know what to do.

Our books are open, so please give Tegan a call or an email and she will be able to talk you through and we'll be able to get you in for the 2425 tax return.

So again, give Tegan an email at the below email address.

Just be mindful that our books will open and close as we progress through January, because what we don't want to do is take too much work on and then over deliver and under.

Oh, rather it's over promise and under deliver, isn't it?

So we, we will open and close the books as we become busier so that we can make sure we can get through the work.

We'll close them again, look at how much we can take on and then open them.

So if you do need us to do your tax return, contact us now.

They are currently open.

That may change next week.

It.

It may change early January, but at the moment, give us a call.

Get, get the email.

I know Tegan's had a few people come in since we said the weeks have opened again.

So we will open and close them as we get busy.

There is a process that we've got to go through as well to get you on board.

This was not just a case of sending us the records.

We've got to onboard you as a client.

We've got to do some background things, got to get you set up on the systems.

So.

And then even when you do send us the records, we get a cursory quick look through them, have a look at what we're missing, and then we may come back and ask for X, Y and Z.

And that might need a little bit of time from you as well.

Certainly what people aren't realizing is that if they've had employment in the year and we need a P60 or a P45 and it's not something that you can put your hands on, that takes you a little bit of time as well.

So just bear that in mind that we may need additional records from you that you haven't thought about and that might take a couple of weeks to get them from old employers or even hmrc.

And I know phone calls to HMRC are taking a little bit of a time at the moment.

They take a bit of a time every day of the busy.

Yeah, yeah, crack.

But as, as we get closer and closer to the 31st of Jan, there's a lot of people.

Oh, they'll crash.

Yeah, and the system crashes because everyone's trying to submit their tax return on the 31st of January.

And remember, you've got a date by then as well.

Yeah, you've got to pay it by the 31st as well.

So.

Yeah.

Yes, don't snooze, you lose, guys.

Snooze, you lose.

So grab your ticket for the expo and get your bloody self assessment done.

I will see you next week and Lee will see you in 2026.

Take care all and have a great Christmas.

I'll see you just a new year.

Yes, see you later guys.

And remember, subscribe to the podcast.

Yes, click that button.

Bye.

Bye.

Right, we'll see you next week.

Bye guys.

Thanks for listening.

If you've enjoyed my podcast, don't forget to subscribe for me.

And if you want to speak to me, please visit my website@www.petaccountant.co.uk.

and if you'd like to join my Facebook group, which is full of like minded pet professionals, then search accounting for pet professionals in Facebook and I will see you there.

Sam.