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Having been self employed for most of my working life, if there’s one time of year I always dread it’s tax return time! In this TaxScouts review we look at this online tax return submission service to see what they have to offer you.
Who are TaxScouts?
TaxScouts launched in the UK in 2018 with their online tax return service. In 2019 with a round of investment to back them they expanded their business. After seeing great success in Europe in 2021 they also launched a tax advice service.
Who can use TaxScouts?
TaxScouts are proud to offer their services to many types of potential customer. These include the self employed, landlords, investors, crypto traders, high earners and expats. They now also offer tax return submissions for limited companies too.
What do TaxScouts offer?
TaxScouts offer two main elements to their service, these being tax return submission and tax advice. You can choose to use just one of these services or bundle them both together for a discount price.
It’s worth mentioning here that the tax return submission service TaxScouts offer does come with a dedicated accountant. You can ask your accountant any questions via the inbuilt messaging service. They will usually come back to you within a couple of days.
If you choose to pay for their tax advice service, then you’ll receive a 1 on 1 video or telephone appointment with a qualified accountant. This will allow you to get any advice you might need in real time and discuss your options quicker.
TaxScouts state that their service is simple, fast and online based. You will be paired with an accredited accountant to help you with any questions you might have. The whole process of filing your tax return could be completed in as little as 48 hours.
Free Bookkeeping Tools
Another feature I found interesting when using the TaxScouts platform were the inbuilt bookkeeping tools on offer. These are free to use and include features that are often only available via paid online bookkeeping services. They include the ability to create invoices or scan and upload/organise receipts. You can also link a bank account to help you easily identify and input business transactions. These tools can be extremely handy in helping you to keep track of your income and expenses.
What TaxScouts don’t offer
It’s important to mention here that – while TaxScouts do offer some free bookkeeping tools to help you keep track of your income and expenses – they aren’t a bookkeeping service. You will still be responsible for uploading your income and expenses. This is so that your matched accountant has the correct figures to submit to HMRC on your behalf.
For high earners who are looking to use the service simply to submit a return, you will need to upload documents like a p60 or other documents related to investments etc. to show all annual earnings.
How much does TaxScouts cost?
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TaxScouts services are priced as follows…
Tax Return Submission Service
The Tax Return submission service from TaxScouts costs £169 all in. If you are simply looking to have someone file your tax return on your behalf and would like to be able to ask questions of an accredited accountant via a text messaging service along the way, then this might work well for you.
Tax Advice Service
If you would like to receive more personalised tax advice via a video or telephone appointment then this is available at a cost of £139. You will also receive a written summary of the tax advice you receive during this consultation.
Tax Bundle
If you feel you would like both of the above services then you can save £39 by purchasing them as a bundle. The total cost will then be £269 for both the Tax Return and the Tax Advice service together.
Limited Companies
While TaxScouts can now submit tax returns for limited companies the costs for this are higher, ranging from £149 for a dormant or non-trading company to £499 for a VAT-registered company.
TaxScouts Reviews
While we hope that this TaxScouts Review has given you more insight as to what the company offer and how much the service costs, you may be wondering if TaxScouts really deliver on what they claim to offer? For this it can be helpful to see what others have had to say about the company.
On Trustpilot it’s encouraging to see that TaxScouts have a rating of 4.8 out of 5 stars. This rating is based on a solid selection of almost 5,000 TaxScouts reviews. 92{c87e2df4b343d0515d304e127afe4653a549475791ab451641a18e09bd64e760} of these reviews gained the full 5 stars.
It’s good to see that any negative reviews were often responded to directly by the company. I like to see this as I feel it shows the company care when users have – for whatever reason – not been happy with their experience. Most of the negative reviews seemed to be regarding the speed of accountant responses to questions when using the Tax Return service. While this doesn’t appear to be a common issue, it could be addressed by opting to pay for the Tax Advice service. This includes a live 1 on 1 video or telephone consultation.
Conclusion
If you struggle with the process of submitting your tax return and don’t have a personal accountant of your own, then TaxScouts could well be worth considering. Having an accredited accountant on hand who you can reach out to for support could be very useful. The pricing is competitive when compared to hiring a standard accountant. The positive reviews – along with their success so far – would also indicate that the company are doing something right in helping their users to submit an accurate tax return on time!
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