Accountants in Fore Fen

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.

HMRC requires records to be kept for at least five years after the filing deadline for the self-employed. Digital copies count. A cloud folder or app now beats a carrier bag of paper every time — for you and for any future enquiry.

Dividends can only be paid from accumulated profits, and paperwork matters: board minutes and dividend vouchers, dated correctly. "Illegal dividends" isn't dramatic language — overdrawn payments can be reclassified, with tax consequences, if the profits weren't there.

If a return is late because HMRC asked for one you don't actually need, it can sometimes be withdrawn entirely — penalties included.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.

Incorporation isn't a milestone, it's a calculation: corporation tax versus income tax and NICs, dividend taxation, what you need to draw versus what can stay in the company, and whether limited liability matters for your work. For some Fore Fen businesses it saves thousands; for others it's pure extra paperwork.

The businesses that struggle with tax bills rarely have a tax problem; they have a timing problem. Knowing the bill in September instead of January — which filing early gives you for free — is the difference between planning and scrambling.

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.

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.