Accountants in Castle Bromwich

Rental profits need reporting once they're more than trivial, and the rules differ for furnished holiday lets, rent-a-room and ordinary lets. Landlords are also in the first wave of Making Tax Digital — property income counts towards the £50,000 threshold.

Payments on account catch people out because the first year effectively bills you one-and-a-half years of tax at once. Knowing that in advance changes how you save through the year — and if profits fall, we can apply to reduce the July payment rather than lending HMRC money interest-free.

A good accountant should be able to tell you, in plain English, what they'll do, when, and for exactly how much. Vagueness on any of the three is the tell. Everything else — size of firm, fancy office, distance from Castle Bromwich — is decoration.

Status under IR35 turns on the reality of the engagement: control, substitution, mutuality of obligation. Contracts matter, but working practices matter more. A written status assessment for each engagement is cheap insurance.

Online Self Assessment returns are due by 31 January, along with any balancing payment — and HMRC's £100 penalty applies the moment the deadline passes, even if you owe nothing. Most Castle Bromwich clients who come to us in January still file on time; the records just need to arrive before the last week.

Changing accountant mid-year is routine: you authorise the new firm, we write a professional clearance letter to the old one, records transfer, and HMRC authorisation moves online. Clients are usually surprised the whole thing needs almost nothing from them.

Company deadlines run off your accounting year end, not the tax year: corporation tax is payable nine months and one day after year end, and the CT600 return is due twelve months after. Confusingly, the payment is due before the return — a sequencing quirk that catches new directors.

Directors paying themselves a salary still need a PAYE scheme and RTI submissions, even in a one-person company. It's a five-minute monthly task with software — and a recurring penalty generator without it.