Hey people, need some help here. As a freelancer h...
# random
n
Hey people, need some help here. As a freelancer how do you manage taxes? A while back I hired an accounting consultant but I feel like I don't see any RoI, also most of my friends say that I am being over charged. I feel that it doesn't make sense to pay someone to do monthly book keeping as a solo freelancer. Do any one of you have GST?, If so, how do you do your GST filing? Thanks in advance.
b
I did gst on my own for a few months but I don’t anymore. It was very boring and “work” to me. I pay my accountant for that now. If you think you are being overcharged you can use your friends’ accountants :D
It’s a personal choice. You could totally do it on your own.
BUT if you’re already paying an accountant for other stuff(professional tax + return, income tax + return, book keeping, etc.) you might as well include GST.
n
Makes sense, I felt the same, I wanted to outsource things so that I can focus on my business. But I want to find a way to know the returns I get from my CA is really worth the amount I am paying. I pay Rs.7,000/month, on top of that now I have to pay 2,500/month for filing GST. Basically I am nearly paying 10K per month. If I am visibly seeing the returns, I am happy to pay that. Also the pricing varies so much, I see people offering services to startups less than this amount, as a single person do I need to pay this for to get accounting services, again it's not about the money, it's about the returns/worth.
b
That sounds expensive to me too. It really depends on how much you earn, how much tax the accountant/CA saves you, etc. Considering average level or services that sounds high to me but I don’t know many accountants’ charges so I might be wrong. Let’s see what others have to say.
c
@fancy-photographer-49617 ☝️
v
@nice-country-1598 If you aren't happy with your CA, change them. The GoI guidelines for audit + GST + tax filing is ~7500/month, with some increase year over year
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My process: • I have a trusted CA • I maintain books -- all accounts owned, all credit cards etc -- I send monthly annotated statements. Categorising incoming and outgoing into business expenses and personal expenses (called drawings) • Their team maintains books based on this • Every month, the invoices and GST expenses need to be filed. They send me a reminder and I send it over. • They send advance tax and other compliance reminders whenever applicable • Every year when it's time to file taxes, we sit down and prepare balance sheets and file taxes • The fees I pay are inclusive of all this + a retainer for any advice I need
n
Thanks so much @victorious-energy-56764 for listing out the process. Mine was more or less same for last few months. I started going independent last september and I hired someone to file taxes for 2019-2020. I haven't decided continuining with them for FY 2020 yet, because most people/friends adviced me to find out how they are helping me to cut my taxes, I trust my CA but I feel that they render services for high profile clients/coroporates and trying to put me in the same price bucket. Even if they provide the value, it's very difficult to realise it without full knowledge.
v
Where are you based out of? (Feel free to DM if you want to ask any off the record questions)
n
Sure I will DM you. Thank you:)
r
@nice-country-1598 You are paying too much. I pay 25k/y for everything (GST, LUT, Income tax, any other service that I don’t know exists because I haven’t done accounts myself).
v
@rough-autumn-89795 Do you get income tax audits done in that?
r
@victorious-energy-56764 Yes (IIRC).
v
Without judgement: I honestly doubt it.
You either do the audit or you don't. There's no IIRC.
The CA association of India recommends a minimum fee of 5k/- month for auditing services.
r
@victorious-energy-56764 Sorry, you are right. Just confirmed with my CA. I did remember talking about it that’s why I said IIRC. I would only need it if I cross 50L in reported income.
c
I pay my CA 2k plus GST per month to file my GST returns. If anyone needs one, I can share his contact.
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