Accountants in Durgan

First-year traders around Durgan 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.

If you contract through your own limited company, IR35 asks whether you'd be an employee without it. For medium and large clients, the status decision is theirs; for small clients, it's still yours — and getting it wrong in either direction costs money.

If a return is late because HMRC asked for one you don't actually need, it can sometimes be withdrawn entirely — penalties included. And where there's a genuine reasonable excuse, appeals succeed more often than people expect. The wrong move is ignoring the letters.

Subcontractors under the Construction Industry Scheme have 20% deducted at source — often more than their final tax bill once expenses and the personal allowance are counted. That's why CIS refunds are so common: the average claim is well into four figures, but only if the deduction statements are all gathered.

HMRC receives data directly from online platforms about sellers' income. If a side hustle has grown past the £1,000 trading allowance, coming forward first is always cheaper than being written to — penalties scale with how the disclosure starts.

Timing disposals across tax years, using losses properly, and the spousal transfer rules can all legitimately reduce capital gains bills — but only before the sale. CGT planning after completion is just arithmetic.

Receipts win arguments. HMRC doesn't demand a shoebox of paper any more — photos in an app are fine — but every deduction needs evidence behind it. A ten-minute weekly habit beats a January archaeology dig, every time.

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.