Tax doesn't have to be taxing............

   Just finished reading "101 Ways to Pay Less Tax".

Now imagine I was self employed, I could offset against my income:

• cost of goods bought for resale.
• cleaning.                 (£20 per week/ £1000 per year)
• postage.                 (£250 per year)
• stationery.              (£100 per year)
• relevant books and magazines.
• security expenditure.
• business proportion of telephone, lighting, heating, cleaning and insurance. (£150 per year)
• business proportion of rent and council tax.          (£1000 per year)
• reasonable pay for your spouse.          (£7200 per year)
• hotel and travelling expenses on business trips.
• whole cost of running your own car if used wholly for business.          (£2500 per year)
• the interest on overdrafts and loans for business purposes.          (£1200 per year)
• business insurance.          (£150 per year)
• repairs and maintenance of equipment and premises.          (£500 per year)

Now assume as I was self employed, rented a £700pcm house (10% business use) with £150pcm Council Tax. I employ my spouse as a PA and use a vehicle wholly for business purposes. I bring in £2000 per month.

   I make that roughly £14k that could be offset against tax quite legitimately (so long as all the above had the paperwork to cover them off). Of the £10k left over, roughly £7500 is covered by my personal allowance. This means that only £2500 would be taxable, giving me an annual tax bill of £500.

   At the moment I pay more than that every month!!!