Sole trader accounts in Compstall

Self-employed people in Compstall trading in their own name: tradespeople, drivers and couriers, hairdressers and beauticians, consultants, creatives, market traders, therapists, tutors and anyone else running a business without a limited company, from a first-year side business to an established trade with a van, equipment and a few thousand transactions a year.

• Income and expenditure account for the tax year or your accounting period, with a balance sheet where you want one
• Every expense category reviewed for what is allowable, including home working, vehicles and the trading allowance
• Capital allowances on equipment and vehicles, with the cash basis or accruals basis chosen to suit you
• A plain-English summary: profit, tax and National Insurance due, payments on account and what to put aside
• Figures prepared in the format the Self Assessment self-employment pages need
• Records organised and stored so that an HMRC check can be answered quickly

1. Scope the job

   We find out what you need filed, when it is due and what state the records are in, and tell you which fixed-fee package applies.

2. Agree the price

   The fee is confirmed in writing. There is no hourly billing and nothing added for questions during the work.

3. Hand over the records

   Photographs, PDFs, software access or a spreadsheet, sent however suits you. We confirm what we have and what is missing within two working days.

4. Approve, then we submit

   You review the draft with our explanation, sign off, and we file. Receipts, copies and the next deadlines come back to you immediately.

Compstall is in North West, England. For businesses in England the tax rules are those set by the UK Parliament: the 20/40/45% income tax bands, Class 4 National Insurance for the self-employed at 6% and 2%, Corporation Tax at 19% to 25%, and Stamp Duty Land Tax on property. Business rates are set locally by the council.

Making Tax Digital for Income Tax

The biggest change to Self Assessment in a generation is Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, now live for higher-earning sole traders and landlords and arriving for the rest in stages. Quarterly updates are due by 7 August, 7 November, 7 February and 7 May, built from digital records. The practical consequence is that spreadsheet-and-shoebox bookkeeping is ending for anyone above the threshold.

Late filing penalties

Penalties are the clearest reason to work to deadlines. A Self Assessment return one day late costs £100 regardless of whether any tax is due; three months late adds £10 a day. Late company accounts start at £150 and reach £1,500, and double if the previous year was also late. None of this is negotiable afterwards except through a narrow reasonable-excuse appeal.

Payments on account

If your Self Assessment bill exceeds £1,000 and less than 80% of your tax was collected at source, HMRC asks for two advance payments towards the following year, each half of the current bill, due 31 January and 31 July. The first year this happens the January payment is effectively one and a half times the bill. We model it in advance and show you how to reduce the payments if income is falling.

The Self Assessment calendar

Self Assessment runs on a fixed annual cycle. Registration by 5 October following the tax year, online filing and payment by 31 January, and a second instalment on 31 July for those making payments on account. The penalties for lateness are automatic and escalate monthly, which is why we file early and chase approvals well before the window closes.

Director's loan accounts

The most common tax problem in owner-managed companies is an overdrawn director's loan account: drawings taken during the year that were never declared as dividends or salary. The company faces a 35.75% charge on the balance outstanding nine months after the year end, and the director may have a benefit in kind. We review the account before every year end to clear it properly.

Salary versus dividends

The salary-and-dividend split is the central planning decision for an owner-managed company. Salary costs employer National Insurance above £5,000 but is deductible; dividends are not deductible but attract lower personal rates and no National Insurance. The optimum changes each April with the thresholds and depends on the director's other income, so it should be set deliberately every year.

Corporation Tax rates and marginal relief

Corporation Tax is not a flat rate. Profits to £50,000 pay 19%, profits above £250,000 pay 25%, and the band between is taxed at an effective marginal rate of 26.5% through the marginal relief mechanism. Associated companies share the thresholds, which catches directors who own more than one company and is the most common cause of underpaid tax in owner-managed groups.