Very taxing

I hate it when those ads start appearing on TV about getting tax returns sent in. They make me nervous. Makes me think of Pam Ayres' poem "I wish I'd taken care of me teeth." I wish I'd done an hour a week on my accounts. However, spilt milk, no use crying and all that. I have made progress in the last week and got to the point where I needed to fish out last year's records to grab the cheque/paying in books and first month's balance, etc but could I find them?? Nope. I believed I hadn't actually collected them from the accountant so phoned him at the beginning of Decemeber to see if they had them, still. Nope. Stalemate. Turned the house upside down ... which wasn't a bad thing since I've turfed out all sorts of rubbish, but also 'wasted' time by finding interesting stuff to browse, too. I'm a 'keeper'. I've got old diary pages and an archive of all my newsclippings, which all takes up quite a bit of space and not sure I'll ever need them again but .... Maybe I'll have to resort to getting a long ladder and exploring my loft space?? Feeling at a loss today I phoned the accountant again and the receptionist if the records just sit THERE awaiting collection. When I gave her my name she said "Oh, I think we have them here." She got back to me after asking the person who deals with my affairs and said: "Sorry, we don't have them." Stalemate. "Would you PLEASE ask them to look again??? I really don't have them!" ...... "Hello! We DO have your records!" Hello, I really need these useful people. Must be one of those days ... The postman brought me a tax return and repayment reminder. In fact, come to think of it, the accountant hasn't harrassed me AT ALL about getting my accounts in to them for the last year so either they've forgotten about me (and my records) or they just know I'll do it last minute. I have a sneaky feeling it's the former! Well, now I'd better get sorted and go collect what I need. No wonder I get nervous. I wish I'd taken better notice when I did accounts at college! Just revisted my bete noir about claiming for an element of rent in the accounts. I did suggest to the accountant that there should be a claim but he pooh-poohed this. Then I got me a copy of the Writers' and Artists' Year Book which states quite specifically: "if the claim is based on an appropriate proportion of the total costs of rent, light and heat, cleaning ... ." so I feel justified and having another go at him about this and wonder if it's claimable in retrospect if I'm right. Just had a word with the tax office to warn them it's all gonna be late, of which a note has been made but the fine will be automatic and mentioned this rent issue to my 'customer manager'. She suggested showing Ac. a copy of the book. I mean, how many photojournalists does he have as clients? The only other person I know, in this area, with a similar job does his own accounts (now I know why) so maybe the Ac doesn't know it all! Postie also brought me my civil service pensions pack ... more papers to read through. Now I know why people have secretaries to deal with paperwork. Somehow, as a secretary, it was always easier to deal with other people's affairs!