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 pay capital gains tax when I sell my rental property?
The 2025/26 CGT picture, the £3,000 annual allowance, the post-October 2024 18%/24% rates, and how joint ownership with a basic-rate spouse can save £5,000+ on a typical sale.
Read →Can I claim my home office through my limited company?
HMRC's £6/week flat rate (£312/year) versus apportioned bills — and the rental-agreement structure that can deduct £4-6k/year if you avoid the CGT trap.
Read →Can I put my mobile phone or broadband through the business?
Mobile contract in company name = 100% deductible with no benefit-in-kind. Home broadband is a different story — HMRC's marginal-cost rule means most directors can claim less than they think.
Read →What expenses can I actually claim through my limited company?
The wholly-and-exclusively rule, six always-deductible categories, four grey areas — and a worked example showing £29,668 of legitimate first-year deductions saving £5,637 in corporation tax.
Read →I just started freelancing — when do I tell HMRC?
The 5 October registration deadline, the four key dates from first invoice to first tax bill, and why January catches new freelancers off-guard with full-year tax plus 50% of next year.
Read →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.
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