I am the proud owner of an accountant. I signed on with a firm of accountants and was assigned to a wonderful and patient tax advisor, who answered all my banal questions. I had been told to go out and buy a ledger, but how did I fill it in? I was very organized and came with a set of written questions, such as how do I register parking (take the amount, divide by 1.16 to get the amount before VAT and enter that, then multiply it by 0.16 to get the VAT and enter that in the correct column). I didn’t know what was a small or large issue – they were all the same to me, and bless her that she kept a straight face and good humour when answering me.
Did you know, at least in Israel, that if you turn one room into an office then you can write off 20 to 25% of running costs for the apartment (depending on the number of rooms it has)? This includes electricity and municipal taxes, but excludes (why?) water and gas.
She also told me how to fill in the VAT payment form (which I plan to do online), separating out large purchases where the value is depreciated (such as the laptop) and small purchases (such as stationary). Also there are all sorts of rules on how much VAT you get back, depending on the type of expense (Internet is 50%).
Finally Ayelet (my savior) wrote a letter and filled in a form so that I can start paying income tax (or maybe even receive a refund). The dream of being self-employed is getting closer with each bureaucratic item that I tick off my list.
Envy!
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