Accountants in The Garrison

A limited company juggles two regulators: Companies House wants accounts within nine months of year end, HMRC wants corporation tax paid at nine months and a day. Same starting point, different documents — and late filing penalties at Companies House escalate automatically and are rarely cancelled.

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 The Garrison — is decoration.

Selling online, freelancing on the side, renting out equipment — each can be a "trade" in HMRC's eyes once it's done with a profit motive. The good news: registering is straightforward, expenses become claimable, and done early it's a non-event.

VAT registration becomes compulsory once your taxable turnover in any rolling 12 months passes £90,000 — and "rolling" is the word that catches people, because it's not your accounting year. Businesses in The Garrison growing towards that line should be watching it monthly.

Disposing of crypto — selling, swapping one coin for another, spending it — is a capital gains event, and staking or mining income is usually income. Exchanges share data with HMRC, so the tax position exists whether or not it's been calculated.

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.

People stay with the wrong accountant for years because switching feels disruptive. In practice the profession has a standard handover process — clearance letters, copies of prior returns and working papers — and the new firm drives it, not you.

Filing early doesn't mean paying early: submit a return in May and the tax is still not due until the usual dates. Early filing buys certainty, refund speed and time to arrange payment — it costs nothing.