Accountants in Wheal Basset and Grylls

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.

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.

The first tax bill is the hardest because it can arrive with payments on account attached — up to 150% of the year's tax in one go. New businesses that save a quarter to a third of profits from day one never feel it.

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.

Crypto traders rack up hundreds of taxable events without noticing, because every swap counts as a disposal. Specialist software plus the pooling rules turns the mess into a number; guessing does not.

Online Self Assessment returns are due by 31 January, along with any balancing payment — and HMRC's £100 penalty applies the moment the deadline passes, even if you owe nothing. Most Wheal Basset and Grylls clients who come to us in January still file on time; the records just need to arrive before the last week.

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.

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.