Tax Planning — the deep dives.
Practical UK tax content from Sutton Roff Accountants & Advisors. Worked examples, specific 2025/26 figures, no fluff.
Can I pay my spouse from my limited company?
Spouse as employee, co-director or shareholder — the structure that saves £7,500/year on £100,000 of extraction. Settlements legislation, the Arctic Systems case, and the wholly-and-exclusively salary test.
Read →How much capital gains tax will I pay on my shares in 2025/26?
The post-October 2024 18%/24% rates, £3,000 annual exemption, and the Bed-and-ISA mechanic that drops a £80,000 gain bill from £18,480 to £11,760 across four tax years.
Read →Can my limited company pay into my pension?
Employer pension contributions are CT-deductible with no NIC. £10k extracted as employer pension nets ~£8,500 of long-run wealth versus £6,794 as dividend — same money, different routes.
Read →Should I sacrifice my bonus into my pension instead of taking cash?
A £10k bonus nets £5,800 cash or £9,775 of pension wealth — same gross, 69% wealth gap. The tax mechanic, mortgage-affordability impact, and when bonus sacrifice doesn't make sense.
Read →How much can I put into my pension tax-free this year?
The £60,000 annual allowance plus three years of carry-forward unlocks up to £220,000 of contribution headroom — plus how Tapered AA bites high earners above £260k adjusted income.
Read →Can I take 25% of my pension tax-free at 55?
The 25% Pension Commencement Lump Sum mechanic, the £268,275 Lump Sum Allowance cap, and three withdrawal strategies on a £200,000 pot — with a £30,000 gap between them in tax.
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 →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 →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 →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 →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 →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 →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 →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 →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 →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 →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 →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 →Earn tax-free interest on your Director’s Loan account (2025/26)
If you've lent money to your own company, you can charge it interest. With the right salary level, up to £6,500+ of that interest can be received tax-free — and the company gets the corporation-tax deduction. Most directors miss it.
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 →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 →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.
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