It was the best of times.
In the early days of Eazitax, Operators would invite me to cab offices to give drivers tax advice. We called it a ‘Tax Surgery’ because usually I’d be called in to fix a serious problem for someone.
Either the driver hadn’t paid tax in a long time, or was being investigated by HMRC, or both.
I sat night after night in cab offices chatting with drivers. To be honest – I loved it. I’m a social animal and enjoy helping people. It also helped me understand the kind of business I wanted to build.
After a couple of years, I had seen it all.
I’d heard about guys who hadn’t paid tax in 5 years, guys who hadn’t paid tax in 10 years and guys who had paid tax but sold unlicensed cigarettes out of the boot.
If any of these sound familiar, reach out today. I promise it’s never as bad as you think.
How HMRC likes to kick us when we are down
If you’re reading this, you know the private-hire industry was hit hard by the pandemic. Today, with the worst of Covid behind us, a new problem has reared its ugly head.
Surprise surprise. It’s the taxman. From April 4th, drivers have to be signed up to pay tax, otherwise, they could lose their license. It’s called Conditionality.
Unregistered drivers aren’t just a risk to themselves. They put their operators at risk too. Operators need drivers that they know will turn up to work the next day. Without a fleet to run their
At the start of this year, I sent out an urgent letter to Operators. At the top, I wrote ‘Helping you to keep your drivers’.
A few days later, our friend Jackie got in contact with us. She runs TULDA in Torbay. We offered to come down and help her drivers register with HMRC. After a long hiatus, it was time for us to get in the car and give a tax surgery. Mark, Jamie, Nathan and I went on a road trip. Here are some pictures from our trip to Torquay to speak to the TULDA.
Due to a last-minute relocation due to Covid, the tax surgery was held at a lovely country pub. I spoke about what conditionality really means to the drivers, gave advice on what they can claim for and explained why the ‘shoebox tax return’ is coming to an end. Afterwards, my team and I were around to speak 1-2-1 to drivers to offer free confidential tax advice.
I also met a lovely guy who was in trouble with the tax man. When he first came over for a coffee and a chat, he seemed resigned to burying his head in the sand. After a few minutes of talking, I told him that I’d fixed his problem not once, but a thousand times.
Operators, book a tax surgery for your drivers today.
