Running 14k, sterling

Just need to get this off my chest.

I’m self employed, work pretty hard: no holidays, no luxury, no TV. I do have a car but I walk, cycle or train it when I can. I keep the heating low and shop in the most meagre fashion. I’ve got two pairs of presentable trousers. It’s not just long habit, this miserly behaviour, it’s become necessity — don’t ask me how or why but I always thought I was doing the right thing recording income and expenditure and meekly handing the numbers to HMRC.

So a tax bill for £14,076 hasn't made me feel particularly well loved. It’s about half of a really good year’s net income for me (and about three quarters of this year’s). Suffice to say it’s far, far beyond what I can afford.

The moral of this is don't do your own tax return unless you know what you're doing. Regardless of whether I can crawl out of this one, the ongoing corrosion of tax has cramped my style for far too long. It hasn't made me happy, it hasn't made me productive, it's just given me grey hairs.

Thats all, cheers.