Payroll · Scotland
Payroll services in Darkland
Every time you pay someone in Darkland, HMRC expects a Full Payment Submission on or before the pay date, and the pension regulator expects eligible staff enrolled. We run the whole cycle online: you confirm hours or salaries, we produce payslips, file with HMRC and tell you what to pay and when. One fixed monthly fee, no per-payslip extras.
from £25/mo · fixed, per month
Next deadlines
- PAYE and National Insurance for last month paid to HMRC (electronic)
- Workplace pension contributions paid over to the scheme
- PAYE and National Insurance for last month paid to HMRC (electronic)
- Workplace pension contributions paid over to the scheme
Who this is for
Payroll for Darkland
Employers in Darkland with one to around ten people on the payroll: single-director companies paying a salary alongside dividends, trades with a few employees, cafes, salons and shops with hourly staff, professional practices, and anyone taking on their first employee who needs PAYE registration and auto-enrolment set up correctly from day one.
What is included
Everything inside the fixed fee
- Payroll processed every pay period with electronic payslips to each employee
- Full Payment Submission to HMRC on or before every pay day, and the Employer Payment Summary when needed
- PAYE, National Insurance and student loan deductions calculated, with a monthly payment note for HMRC
- Workplace pension assessment, enrolment and contribution files each pay period
- Starters, leavers, P45s, statutory sick, maternity and paternity pay handled as they arise
- Year-end: P60s to employees, final submissions, and P11Ds where benefits are provided
How it works
Payroll from Darkland, step by step
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.
Agree the price
The fee is confirmed in writing. There is no hourly billing and nothing added for questions during the work.
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.
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.
Why IGI
What you get in Darkland
No hourly rate and no surprise invoice. Darkland clients know the fee for payroll before they send a single document, and it stays fixed.
Deadline-first: the dates that matter for payroll are shown at the top of this page, diarised for every Darkland client and chased before they arrive.
Online only, UK based. There is no office in Darkland to pay for, which is why the fee is the same here as anywhere in Scotland; the work is done by people in the UK who answer the same day.
You get one contact for payroll, not a queue. Darkland clients message the same person throughout and get an answer in working hours, usually within a few hours.
We explain payroll in the words Darkland business owners use, not in accountant's shorthand, and we show our working so you can check it.
You stay in control of payroll: drafts go to Darkland clients first, with the figures explained, and nothing leaves us until you say so.
Local facts
About Darkland
Darkland is in Scotland, Scotland. Tax in Scotland differs from the rest of the UK on earned income: six bands with a 21% intermediate rate and a 48% top rate, identified by an S prefix on the tax code. The interaction between Scottish rates on salary and UK rates on dividends makes the salary-and-dividend split for Scottish directors a distinct calculation, and Land and Buildings Transaction Tax replaces Stamp Duty.
| Place | Distance | Direction |
|---|---|---|
| Lhanbryde | 0.6 mi | SE |
| Urquhart | 1 mi | E |
| Hallowood | 2 mi | SW |
| Lochhill | 2 mi | NE |
| Blackhills, Moray | 2 mi | S |
| Cranloch | 2 mi | SE |
| Muir of Lochs | 2 mi | E |
| Blackdam | 3 mi | SE |
Worth knowing
Rules that come up in this work
Closing a company
Voluntary strike-off is available only to solvent companies. One that owes money it cannot pay needs a creditors' voluntary liquidation through a licensed insolvency practitioner, and directors who dissolve an insolvent company face personal consequences. For a solvent company the process takes three to four months from filing the DS01, with notice to creditors and shareholders within seven days.
Switching accountants
The main reasons people switch accountant are surprise invoices, missed deadlines and not understanding what they are being told. Switching involves a clearance letter between the firms, a transfer of records and agent authorisations, and a short handover of the current position. It takes about two weeks and should cost nothing extra.
Payments on account
A common surprise in Self Assessment is the January payment that is far larger than expected. That is the balancing payment for the year just ended plus the first payment on account for the year ahead, which HMRC sets at half of the bill just calculated. We put the figure in your hands months ahead and tell you how to adjust it legitimately when circumstances change.
The Self Assessment calendar
The tax year runs from 6 April to 5 April. Anyone new to Self Assessment must register by 5 October after the end of the tax year in which their untaxed income began. The online return and the balancing payment are due by 31 January, with a second payment on account on 31 July where they apply. Paper returns have an earlier deadline of 31 October and are rarely sensible.
Making Tax Digital for Income Tax
MTD for Income Tax replaces one annual return with quarterly digital updates and a year-end declaration, submitted from software. The threshold is gross trading and property income, measured two years earlier, and started at £50,000 in April 2026 before falling to £30,000 in April 2027. Anyone affected needs digital record keeping in place before their start date, not after.
Late filing penalties
Lateness is expensive in a way that compounds. For individuals, £100 immediately, then daily penalties, then percentage-based ones at six and twelve months, with interest running on unpaid tax throughout. For companies, Companies House penalties scale with delay and double on repeat, and HMRC adds its own for a late CT600. Filing on time is the cheapest tax planning there is.
Corporation Tax rates and marginal relief
Since April 2023 there have been two Corporation Tax rates, 19% small profits and 25% main, with marginal relief smoothing the transition between £50,000 and £250,000 of profit. The band is where planning matters: each pound of profit in it is taxed at an effective 26.5%, so pension contributions and capital expenditure timed to keep profit below £50,000 are worth more than they look.
Questions
Payroll questions from Darkland
What about sick pay, maternity and paternity pay?
Statutory Sick Pay, Maternity, Paternity, Adoption and Shared Parental Pay are calculated and paid through the payroll when the qualifying conditions are met, and the recoverable portion of parental pay is reclaimed from HMRC through the Employer Payment Summary. All included.
How are starters and leavers handled?
For a starter we need the P45 or a starter checklist, bank details and contract terms; we set them up and report them to HMRC on the first pay run. For a leaver we process final pay, issue the P45 and report the leaving date. Both are included in the monthly fee.
Do I have to offer a workplace pension?
Yes, if you employ anyone aged 22 to State Pension age earning over £10,000 a year. They must be enrolled automatically with minimum contributions of 8% of qualifying earnings, at least 3% from you. Director-only companies with no employment contract are usually exempt. The £99 setup package handles the scheme, the declaration of compliance and the letters.
I am taking on my first employee. What do I need?
A PAYE employer registration with HMRC (our £49 service, or £99 with the first payroll run set up), a workplace pension scheme, employer's liability insurance, a written statement of employment terms and right-to-work checks. We handle the first two and tell you plainly what to do about the rest.
What salary should a director take?
For 2026/27 many directors take a salary at or just above the National Insurance thresholds so that the year counts towards the State Pension while minimising deductions, and take further income as dividends. The right figure depends on the company's profit and your other income, and our tax planning review covers it in detail.
Can you take over mid-year from another provider or software?
Yes. We need the year-to-date figures for each employee, the last submissions to HMRC and the pension scheme details. The transfer is included in the fee and the first pay run under us reconciles to the previous provider's figures so HMRC sees no gap.
How do I get started from Darkland?
Message us on WhatsApp or email with a sentence about your business and what you need. We reply in working hours with any questions and a fixed fee for payroll. Once you confirm, we tell you exactly which records to send and the work begins. Most Darkland clients are set up within a day.
Which deadlines matter most for payroll?
The next four dates that apply to payroll are shown at the top of this page, calculated from today. For Darkland clients we diarise every one of them from the day you join and send reminders before each, so the work is done in good time rather than in the last week before a penalty.
Get a fixed quote for Darkland today
Tell us what you need. You get one fixed fee in writing, and nothing is filed until you approve it.