I have my 1st client who has asked me to do his tax return for a small cupcake business. Their turnover was around 600 for the year 08//09. Outgoings came to roughly 800. Do they still need to do a tx return with such small numbers and if so is there a different way from the huge tax return form as I am only able to fill in 4 boxes ir so.
I believe that if they have registered as self employed they must complete a tax return regardless of how much turnover is. I believe that if it is someones first year of trading then it is the huge tax return form but in the next year if the turnover is below a certain amount (think it may be £15,000) then the form is much shorter.
If its the first tax return then it has to be the Full return. HMRC will probably send a Short return next year. Unfortunately, it's their decision which they send and unlike a Full return, you can't download a Short version.
From the figures it looks like your client made a loss. If it is a hobby business, losses are dealt with differently (cant remember how, without ploughing through the books) but if it is intended to be a full or part time income stream it can be dealt with in several ways
Dont worry about blank spaces if there is nothing to put in them.