TaxCalc Case Studies

Jane Waterton

Since retiring as the Membership Secretary at Wellington College's Sports Club, a fully equipped sports centre situated within the grounds of Wellington College, Jane Waterton from Wokingham, Berkshire has been keeping herself busy.

Jane became a Grandma (although she prefers to be called Nanna!) for the first time in April and loves spending her newfound time seeing baby Ella whenever possible. Jane also has a passion for ten-pin bowling and plays in a league twice a week. "I thoroughly enjoy the sport and the company. I also love dancing, of all kinds, and have just started Ceroc dance classes." To relax Jane enjoys gardening, photography and Sudoku.

Jane is able to enjoy her retired life to the full because she has been a savvy investor and has various financial interests and investments, such as shares in foreign companies, which require her to complete an annual tax return.

"I used to hire an accountant to file my tax returns until a few years ago when, having studied the format she used, I decided why pay an accountant to file my returns when I was could quite easily file them myself."

Originally Jane looked on the HMRC website to try and find a program that could assist her in filing her returns. When she couldn't find one Jane referred to the Inland Revenue's directory of accredited software.

Jane explains how she found the TaxCalc software "I didn't have a clue where to start when it came to buying a tax returns program but found TaxCalc, which supports all supplementary pages including the foreign page, on the Inland Revenue's directory of accredited software. I telephoned their helpline and spoke to an extremely helpful lady who confirmed that TaxCalc would provide all I needed to complete my return and talked me through how to load it on to my computer. The good thing about the TaxCalc helpline is that it's a UK based call centre and it's not a premium rate number."

Each step of TaxCalc is dedicated to a specific topic, such as personal information, earnings, property etc. Using the program means Jane is guided through step-by-step instructions at the click of a button. She is also able to amend, save or backtrack at any stage - making the process entirely stress-free.

Jane explains, "I actually like to work out myself what I owe in tax and use the TaxCalc software to check my calculations are correct. I used the SimpleStep format last year, however having previously filed paper tax returns, I am also able to use the standard HMRC format on TaxCalc. I will probably use the SimpleStep format again this year but find both formats straightforward to use on TaxCalc."

When asked what the best thing about TaxCalc is Jane replied, "The best part is that I can save what I've done each time so I can sit down to do it over a few evenings. I enjoy being able to do it at my own pace. Also filing my tax returns online, rather than by paper, means I have more time to complete the return as it is not essential for me to submit it before the September deadline. Because of the immediate response the software provides, I don't have to wait to find out from the HMRC how much I owe.