Had a taxi driver get out of his cab and abuse then spit in my face. Took a photo of his cab and taxi plate. Reported it to his taxi company and have made enquiries with the police and will be going in to make a formal complaint sometime today.
I want to sue this scum of a man that has made me feel filthy dirty and me worried about who knows what diseases he may be carrying. Can I make him have a blood test to ease my mind?

If you charge the general public a fee to provide a service then the public have the right to be protected by ensuring the driver is of above average standard as well as the car being to taxi standards.

Taxi drivers in the UK must fill in a self assessment tax return if they have worked as a self employed taxi driver at anytime during the financial tax year. Self assessment tax returns should be filed by 30th September each year although the final deadline is the following 31st January. Failing to file the taxi accounts by 31st January attracts a 100 pounds late filing penalty with interest being charged on any tax not paid by this date.

The simplest solution to preparing the taxi driver accounts is to collect all the taxi receipts and expenses together, hand them over to an accountant who will prepare your self assessment tax return and might charge between 150 to 450 pounds for the privilege. That is taxing. Taxi driver accounts does not have to be that taxing. You can prepare your taxi driver accounts and self assessment tax return yourself but do something.

These taxi driver notes in preparing the taxi driver accounts and completing the self assessment tax return are to assist that process.

Mileage Allowances

Taxi drivers can claim as an alternative to vehicle running costs mileage allowances of 40p for the first 10,000 miles and 25p per mile thereafter. You may not claim mileage allowance and vehicle running costs. Should you choose to claim the mileage allowance then keep good records of mileage covered, purpose of journey.

Taxi Capital Allowances

If you bought a vehicle in the financial year 2007-08 and used the vehicle as a taxi you can claim a first year writing down tax allowance of 25% of the cost of the taxi, restricted to 3,000 pounds for vehicles costing over 12,000 pounds. On vehicles purchased in previous tax years you can claim 25% writing down allowance on the balance not yet claimed. Many taxis are bought and sold each year and where a taxi is sold the capital tax allowance that can be claimed is the difference between the written down value for tax purposes and the amount of sale proceeds. First year allowance on non vehicle assets in the current tax year 2007-08 is 50% for small businesses.

Taxis bought on Hire Purchase

Claim capital allowances on the original cost of the vehicle, interest and other charges count as business expenses and go in the self assessment tax return box 3.61 Other Finance Charges

Taxi Running Costs

When completing the self assessment tax return taxi drivers should enter fuel costs in box 3.46 cost of sales not motoring expenses. A standard check carried out by any competent inland revenue inspector enquiring into a self assessment tax return would be to check when the taxi driver was on holiday and examine if fuel receipts had been included for this period. Not many tax returns are enquired into as the system is based upon trust but taxi drivers should ensure their accounts do not contain this fundamental tax fiddle. Taxi running costs also include repairs, servicing and parts including tyres, road tax, taxi insurance and AA/RAC membership. Taxi administrative costs and expense items such as hiring the radio should be entered under general administration expenditure.

Household expenses

If you run your taxi business from home you can claim a proportion of household expenses as business expenses in the taxi accounts. Household expenses are likely to be disallowed unless they are either specific to the business or a specific area of your home is devoted entirely to your taxi business. Using part of a room part time would not be sufficient to include the household expenses in the taxi driver accounts.

Spouse Costs

You can claim expenses for partners who work for your taxi business and payments up to 100 pounds per week would not attract income tax or national insurance however any payments claimed in the taxi driver accounts must be real payments for real work done. As the claiming of a partner wages as a valid business expense is an area potentially open to abuse the Inland Revenue naturally take a strict view on such claims. Care is required to justify the partner as an expense.

Other Expenses

Enter all business expenses in a named expense box on the self assessment tax return. Avoid entries in box 3.63 Other Expenses if possible as any significant amounts in this box may give rise to an Revenue enquiry into the self assessment tax return.

The better and more detailed a taxi driver keeps records of income and expenditure throughout the year offers the best chance to pay the least taxes at the end of that year. This is because with meticulous records every self employed taxi driver can then do the calculation of whether to claim mileage allowances ot vehicle running costs. Without good records the most tax efficient option cannot be made. The decision to claim mileage allowance or taxi running costs can and often does change during the financial year. In general when a more expensive taxi cab is purchased then the capital allowance of 3,000 pounds will often outweigh the potential mileage allowance although if the vehicle is low value the mileage allowance might be the best option and a method of saving valuable tax pounds which you are entitled to. The best taxi accounting software will automate the comparison of taxi mileage allowances with taxi running costs doing the taxi accountants work for you.

By Justin DiMateo

Getting around in a City that you are not familiar with can be very intimidating if you do not have an idea of how to get to where you are trying to go. It can be very intimidating because you might be afraid of getting lost when you are trying to get somewhere or you might also be afraid that you will run into trouble along the way because you do not know which areas you will be traveling through on your way to your destination. These are just a few reasons why it can be a good idea to have some sort of a guide to get you to where you are trying to go because they will know the area and can get you to your destination safely.

If you are trying to get around in Los Angeles, a very large city with various and diverse neighborhoods there are many benefits to not only taking a taxi to help you through the city but there are also benefits of a bilingual taxi driver in LA. A few benefits first of all in hiring a taxi to get you where you want to go in LA is that if you do not know the city very well, it can be very easy to get lost or to take much longer to get to your destination than you had planned. Another benefit to taking a taxi in Los Angeles is that you do not have to deal with other modes of public transportation like LA’s MTA system that you have to share with many people who may have, possible germs, flu viruses, criminals sitting behind you, and crazy folks you do not know adjacent to your space on public transportation at the same time as you. In addition, the driver will know to take a major boulevard such as Sepulveda, La Brea or Manchester at certain times of the day. When you take a taxi, you can enjoy a private ride while your driver gets you to where you need to go.

When you take a taxi the advantages of a bilingual taxi driver in LA are quite vast. If you are not a native English speaker, it can quickly put you at ease to find out that your taxi driver speaks your native language and that you can communicate with them very easily. Additionally, if you are going to an area of LA where you do not speak the language that many of the people speak but your taxi driver speaks the language, they can easily help you get to your destination without you stressing out about how you are going to be able to communicate with others on you way there. This can also help make sure that you do not get lost because your taxi driver will be able to get you to the destination and you do not have to try and find the place on your own because you do not speak the language

About the Author

Justin suggest if you are looking for a Taxi driver who speaks English and Spanish in Los Angeles and for special rates or discounts, try a Bilingual Taxi Driver at Fiesta Taxi. Schedule a pick-up with a Fiesta Taxi by visiting them online today.