Accountants in Shoreham Beach

The trading allowance means up to £1,000 of gross side income per year can be tax-free with no return needed. Above that, registration and reporting kick in — and platforms now report seller data to HMRC, so "under the radar" isn't a strategy any more.

The best salary-dividend mix moves with each year's thresholds and your other income. Setting it once in April — rather than guessing through the year — is one of the simplest pieces of planning a director can do.

Most self-employed people under-claim. Use of home, mileage at HMRC's approved rates, phone and broadband apportionment, trade subscriptions, training that updates existing skills — legitimate deductions left on the table add up to real tax overpaid year after year.

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.

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.

MTD for Income Tax starts with the £50,000+ income group in April 2026, with lower bands following. Quarterly digital updates sound worse than they are — with software doing the bookkeeping, the quarters largely take care of themselves.

Good records aren't about neatness — they're about money: claims you can evidence, VAT you can reclaim, and an accountant who spends billable time on advice rather than sorting. Bank feeds plus a receipts app gets most small businesses to "tidy" in minutes a week.

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.