Practical UK tax, written for real businesses.
Tax planning, sector deep-dives, and HMRC playbooks from Sutton Roff Accountants & Advisors. Real worked examples. Specific 2025/26 numbers. No fluff.
Do I even need to register for self-assessment?
Six income triggers for 2025/26 — cross any one and HMRC needs a return. The £150,000 PAYE-only threshold change quietly removed hundreds of thousands of high earners from self-assessment.
Read →What happens if I file my tax return late?
Late-filing penalties stack from £100 on day one to £1,600 by month twelve — plus 7.75% interest. Why filing late is more expensive than paying late, and how Time-to-Pay saves the day.
Read →How much should I pay myself from my limited company in 2025/26?
The right director salary is a three-way decision turning on Employment Allowance. A worked example shows how a co-director arrangement saves £4,669 a year on the same compensation.
Read →I got a letter from HMRC — what does it actually mean?
Three buckets, eight letter types, and the three you should never reply to without a specialist. The 30-day clock that decides which bucket yours is in.
Read →Do I pay tax on Vinted, eBay or Depop sales? (2025/26 UK guide)
Three sellers, three earnings levels, three different answers. The £1,000 trading allowance, the platform-reporting rules from 2024, and exactly when HMRC wants you to register for self-assessment.
Read →Reducing company-car tax with a capital contribution — the £5k trick (2025/26)
If you're running a company car with high BIK, an employee capital contribution of up to £5,000 reduces the list price used in the BIK calculation — cutting your tax bill by 20% in many cases. Here's how the trick…
Read →Holding companies + SSE — protecting profits and tax-free exit planning (2025/26)
Move your trading company's shares into a holding company via a tax-neutral share-for-share exchange. Retained profits get ring-fenced. On a future sale, the Substantial Shareholding Exemption gives 0% CGT on the gain — game-changing if you plan to reinvest.
Read →Buying a company car for your teenage child — the EV playbook (2025/26)
EV BIK rates of just 3% have made one of the oldest tax tricks even better: buying a low-emission car through your Ltd company for your teenage child to use. The maths now favours EVs heavily. Here's the 2025/26 version.
Read →Relevant Life insurance — the tax-free life cover most company directors don’t know about
Relevant Life policies let your company pay your life insurance premiums, claim CT relief on the cost, and pay any death benefit to your family tax-free. No P11D entry, no benefit-in-kind. The best-of-both-worlds setup most directors haven't been shown.
Read →Drawing salaries from multiple companies — does it still work in 2025/26?
If you own multiple unrelated companies, you can draw a separate salary from each — and the NIC threshold applies separately to each employment. After April 2025's NIC changes, the maths is tighter. Here's when it still works.
Read →EMI share schemes for owner-managed businesses — the practical guide (2025/26)
EMI isn't just for tech. Any qualifying SME with a key hire to retain — agency, hospitality group, consultancy, retail — can use EMI to grant tax-efficient equity. Here's the plain-English version.
Read →Accessing your pension tax-efficiently — UFPLS vs PCLS (2025/26 guide)
From age 55 (rising to 57 in 2028) you can access your pension. Two main routes — Pension Commencement Lump Sum (25% tax-free upfront) or Uncrystallised Funds Pension Lump Sums (25% tax-free on each withdrawal). Pick wrong and you waste…
Read →The £50 trivial-benefits perk — and the £300 director cap most owners miss (2025/26)
Trivial benefits up to £50 per gift are tax-free for employees. Directors of close companies get an annual cap of £300 — meaning six tax-free gifts a year out of company funds. Genuine planning, not glamorous, but it adds up.
Read →MTD for Income Tax (April 2026) — what sole traders, landlords and creators must do now
Making Tax Digital for Income Tax goes live for sole traders and landlords with combined income over £50,000 in April 2026. Quarterly reporting, mandatory digital records, MTD-compatible software. Here's what to do in the next 6 months.
Read →Got an HMRC nudge letter? The 30-day playbook (and the 7 things not to say)
A nudge letter isn't an investigation — yet. It's your last chance to come forward voluntarily before HMRC opens a formal enquiry. Handle the 30-day window correctly and penalties drop to 0–10%. Mishandle it and you're looking at 30%+.
Read →Pension contributions vs dividends — which gets you to early retirement faster? (2025/26)
For a Ltd director, every £1 left as dividend gets taxed twice — at the company and personally. The same £1 paid into your pension is deducted at the company and grows tax-free. Across 15 years the difference is six…
Read →Buying a Tesla through your company — does the BIK still beat the alternatives in 2025/26?
EV company-car BIK rises to 3% in 2025/26, then 4% in 2026/27, 5% in 2027/28. The deal is still good — but it's not the no-brainer it was at 1%. Here's the actual 2025/26 calculation against alternatives.
Read →Salary vs dividends in 2025/26 — the £500 decision Ltd directors get wrong every year
The dividend allowance dropped to £500 and employer NIC moved to 15% from April 2025. The optimum salary/dividend mix has shifted. Here's the maths every Ltd director should run before March payroll.
Read →Sole trader to Ltd company — the breakeven calculator nobody runs (2025/26)
The "incorporate at £50k profit" rule of thumb is wrong half the time. Here's the actual 2025/26 breakeven calculation, what changes it for your specific situation, and when staying as a sole trader is the smarter move.
Read →PR gifts, barter sponsorships and HMRC nudge letters — the influencer tax playbook
HMRC has spent two years writing nudge letters to UK creators about undeclared sponsorship and gift income. Here's what counts as taxable, what doesn't, and what to do if you've been getting it wrong.
Read →EMI vs unapproved share options — the £200k decision tech founders only make once
EMI options are the gold-standard tax-efficient employee equity scheme in the UK. Unapproved options are the legacy alternative. The tax difference per recipient at exit can be £100,000+ on a £500k gain. Most founders pick wrong because nobody walked them…
Read →OSS, IOSS and the £90k VAT threshold for UK Amazon sellers (2025/26)
EU sales count toward your UK VAT threshold. So do reverse-charge Amazon fees. Many UK sellers cross £90k without realising — and discover backdated VAT bills 18 months later. Here's the playbook.
Read →Section 24 mortgage interest restriction — should you incorporate? (2025/26 worked example)
Section 24 stops landlords offsetting mortgage interest as an expense — replacing it with a 20% basic-rate tax credit. For higher-rate landlords, it can mean paying tax on profit you didn't earn. Here's when incorporation actually fixes it.
Read →VAT on cosmetic vs medical procedures — the boundary every aesthetic clinic gets wrong
Medical treatment is VAT-exempt. Cosmetic treatment is VAT-standard at 20%. The line between them is where HMRC has been challenging clinics — and where most clinics are getting it wrong, in both directions.
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