Jeanette Kenny Explains How GoSimpleTax’s Tax Return Review Service Helped Saved Her Money

Carlisle landlord saves £1,000 on accountancy fees and gets total peace of mind from the new tax return review service.

Originally from South Shields, Jeanette Kenny moved to Carlisle in 2005. “After leaving college I worked in textiles for about 10 years, but after having my daughter, my husband Neil and I moved to Carlisle to be near his family. Our daughter was nine months old – now she’s coming up to 17,” she smiles.

The Kennys bought a house in Carlisle, but couldn’t sell it when they wanted to move in 2007. “We ended up renting it out and became landlords by accident,” Jeanette explains. “My husband’s an electrician; I did various jobs, and we used our savings to buy another property to rent out. I then ran a successful soft-play business for a few years, which I sold in 2018. We used that money to buy a holiday-let cottage in Penrith.”

No more accounting fees

While running her business and earning income from her rental properties, Jeanette had paid for accountancy services. “I’ve always been good at using spreadsheets to record costs and income, and doing that that made things far easier for accountants. Some promised to save me money, but they didn’t, in truth. I realised that doing my own books and tax returns would actually be the way to save money.”

Previously, Jeanette had attended a meeting for landlords in Carlisle. She was given a leaflet detailing the benefits of GoSimpleTax’s online tax return and Self-Assessment software. “I kept the leaflet in a box at home for years,” she confesses. “I just didn’t think I had the time or knowledge to do my own accounts and Self-Assessment tax returns, but finally I decided to find out more about GoSimpleTax, no longer was I prepared to pay out so much money to accountants.”

Simple to learn and use

Jeanette visited the GoSimpleTax website, did a two-week free trial and says she was very impressed. “I opened up the software and very quickly I remember thinking – ‘yes, I can do this – so I signed up. It was very simple to use. In fact, not long after, I have a friend who is also a landlord and I said to her – ‘I’m using this software, it’s so easy and it’s really good. Soon she was using it, too.”

There was one big advantage of using GoSimpleTax that Jeanette hadn’t considered. “It enabled me to better understand my business costs and outgoings,” she explains. “I use the launderette a lot for business and previously I had no idea just how much I was spending because all I saw was all of my costs lumped into one at the end of the year on my Self-Assessment tax return.

“When you use GoSimpleTax, it conveniently categorises your business expenses, so I could see just how much I was spending on laundry, which I needed to reduce. I could also see other areas where I was spending too much. Now I’m much more aware of my business costs and where I need to manage them more effectively. The reporting and automated calculations you get with GoSimpleTax are really handy, too.”

Peace of mind

More recently, Jeanette used GoSimpleTax’s newly launched Self-Assessment tax return review service, which ensures that Self-Assessment tax returns are filled out as required, with expert consultation provided as part of the package. “It takes away the worry of thinking you’ve made a mistake when submitting your Self-Assessment tax return, which, for £99 [plus VAT], is well worth the money,” she stresses.

“GoSimpleTax emailed me to tell me about the service and I’m so glad they did. Once again, it was all very quick and easy. The expert looked at my Self-Assessment tax return, I think I had to make a few minor changes following his recommendations, but pretty soon it was all done. Just knowing that it was all as it should be was great – it really did take a weight off my mind.

“Because it was my first year of using GoSimpleTax, I thought, I’ll use the Self-Assessment tax return review service once, just to see. But I’m definitely doing it next year – no qualms whatsoever. It’s money very well spent. And, in any case, I can afford it, because using GoSimpleTax has saved my business more than £1,000 in accountancy fees. A thousand-pound saving makes a big difference to small businesses like mine with a low turnover. It’s a lot of money,” she concludes.

Do you want greater peace of mind when it comes to your tax returns? Click here to find out more about GoSimpleTax’s new tax return review service.

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