Tax Return for Electricians

Being an electrician is a highly-skilled job, so there’ll always be high demand. It can include a wide range of different jobs involving the installation and maintenance of electronics, wiring, and circuit boards in places as diverse as homes and public buildings.

Learning to become an electrician – training and qualifications

Working as an apprentice is the most common way to becoming an electrician. An apprenticeship will give you the opportunity to gain practical work experience, earning you a small wage, while letting you study for the relevant qualifications at college. Over about four years, you’ll learn all the practical skills needed to become an electrician, including electrical wiring, maintenance, and safety.

Here are some organisations involved with apprenticeships:

• JTL Training: JTL organises and runs four-year electrician apprenticeships.
• ATL: ATL runs courses teaching electrical skills to people with all levels of experience.

What skills do you need to learn to be an electrician?

An apprenticeship should teach you all the skills you need to become an electrician. Here are a few of the tasks you might be required to do:

• Installing electrical wiring
• Testing wiring for safety and faults
• Plan wiring and plug sockets for new buildings
• Installing alarms
• Fitting fuse boxes and circuit breakers
• Install phone lines

How to find work as a freelance electrician

In the early days of your career as a freelance electrician, you’ll be spending much of your time marketing your services to gain clients.
Here are a few ways to market your services:

• Set up a website: A professional website will make you look more credible, and it is a good place to show what services you offer, your prices, and your contact details.
• Social networking: Social networking websites such as Twitter, Facebook, and Linkedin give you the opportunity to talk about your services as an electrician, and make new contacts.
• Business cards: Give business cards to your family, friends, and anybody you think might need the services of an electrician.
• Local advertising: Placing adverts in local shops and newspapers is relatively cheap, and lets you target potential clients by geographical area.

Accounting as a freelance electrician

There are various benefits to freelancing as an electrician, from the freedom and flexibility to work with a variety of businesses and individuals to more take-home pay. But there is one downside – accounting.
As a full-time employee, your tax is usually taken care of on your behalf in the form of PAYE.
As a freelancer you’ll have to keep a range of financial records and then prepare and pay a Self-Assessment tax return at the end of each business year. Accountancy can be very confusing and can distract you from your electrician jobs.

Getting tax and accountancy advice

With most accountants, you’ll pay them to do your year-end accounts, and then they’ll forget about you until the next year. But for your business to be run smoothly and successfully, you’ll need advice on tax and accountancy throughout the year, especially in the early days.

Citi Accounts is different

Citi Accounts provides an affordable and specialist accountancy service designed just for freelancers. Throughout the year we’ll be on hand to give you any tax and accountancy advice you might need, including things like:

• Take-home pay
• Which VAT scheme to register for
• Expenses
• Tax allowances
• Choosing between sole trader and limited company
• Running your business in a tax-efficient way

We charge for our accountancy services in a clear and simple way, which means you’ll never receive an unexpected bill, and you can get in touch for advice whenever you want without the worry of being charged a fortune like you would with many other accountants