Accountants in Custom House

The capital gains annual exempt amount has shrunk to £3,000, which pulls far more ordinary disposals — shares, crypto, second properties — into reporting territory. Gains that once fell under the allowance now need a return, even when the tax due is modest.

Every year a wave of returns gets filed in the final days of January. It works, but it's the most expensive way to do it: no time to check for missed reliefs, and any tax due lands as one surprise. Sending your records early — even unsorted — is the single best gift you can give your January self.

Plenty of people incorporate too early because it "sounds established", then pay for accounts, confirmation statements and payroll they didn't need. The switch pays for itself at the right profit level — the trick is knowing yours.

CIS deduction statements go missing constantly — contractors change, emails vanish. HMRC's records can fill some gaps, but the fastest refunds belong to subcontractors who keep every monthly statement. If you're in construction around Custom House, that one habit is worth real money.

First-year traders around Custom House tend to make the same three mistakes: registering late, mixing business and personal spending in one account, and saving nothing for the first tax bill. All three are avoidable in an afternoon of setup.

The £90,000 VAT threshold is measured over any 12-month rolling window, so a strong few months can tip you over mid-year. There's a 30-day window to register once you cross it; miss that and HMRC can backdate the liability to when you should have registered.

Ask any prospective accountant two questions: "what's included in the fee?" and "what costs extra?" The quality of those two answers predicts the whole relationship.

The first hire brings PAYE registration, Real Time Information submissions every payday, workplace pension auto-enrolment and payslips that must be right. It's all completely manageable — as a monthly routine run by software, not a monthly crisis.