Payroll · South East
Payroll services in Downgate, Tunbridge Wells
Directors in Downgate, Tunbridge Wells paying themselves a salary need payroll just as much as a business with a team, because the salary only counts for tax and National Insurance purposes if it is reported to HMRC through RTI. Our director-only service does exactly that for £25 a month, and scales to small teams across South East at the same fixed, published rates.
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 Downgate
Employers in Downgate, Tunbridge Wells 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 Downgate, Tunbridge Wells, step by step
Tell us your situation
A short message or call about what you do and what needs filing. We ask the questions that determine the right package and nothing more.
Fixed fee in writing
You receive one price for the work, confirmed by email before anything starts. It does not change if the job takes longer than we expected.
Send records, review the draft
Records come by WhatsApp or email. We prepare the draft, explain the figures in plain English and answer your questions.
We file, you get the receipts
Once you approve and the fee is settled, we submit electronically and forward the HMRC or Companies House acknowledgement the same day.
Why IGI
The IGI way of working, in Downgate
One fixed fee for payroll in Downgate, Tunbridge Wells, agreed in writing before any work starts and never changed part-way through the job, however long it takes us.
Nothing for Downgate is left to the last week. Each deadline relevant to payroll is tracked from the day you join, with the next four shown on every page we send you.
No appointments, no travel across South East, no parking. Everything for payroll in Downgate happens online, with a real person on the other end during UK working hours.
You get one contact for payroll, not a queue. Downgate, Tunbridge Wells clients message the same person throughout and get an answer in working hours, usually within a few hours.
The output for Downgate clients is never just a form. It is the form, a one-page summary of what it says, and a note of the decisions it points to for payroll.
Approval before filing is a rule, not a courtesy. For payroll in Downgate, Tunbridge Wells, every submission to HMRC or Companies House follows your written go-ahead.
Local facts
About Downgate, Tunbridge Wells
Downgate, Tunbridge Wells is in South East, England. Income tax in England follows the UK rates: 20% basic to £50,270, 40% higher to £125,140 and 45% additional, with the personal allowance of £12,570 tapered away above £100,000. National Insurance, VAT and Corporation Tax are UK-wide, and Stamp Duty Land Tax applies to property purchases.
| Place | Distance | Direction |
|---|---|---|
| Field Green | 0.5 mi | N |
| Sponden | 0.6 mi | NE |
| Sandhurst Cross | 0.6 mi | S |
| Sandhurst, Tunbridge Wells | 0.7 mi | E |
| Little Conghurst | 1.0 mi | W |
| Four Throws | 1.0 mi | NW |
| Peter's Green, Rother | 1 mi | S |
| Pipsden | 1 mi | NW |
Worth knowing
Rules that come up in this work
Salary versus dividends
Directors of their own companies usually take a salary at or just above the National Insurance thresholds, which keeps the year qualifying for State Pension and is deductible for Corporation Tax, with further income as dividends. Dividends above the £500 allowance are taxed at 10.75%, 35.75% and 39.35% by band and can only be paid from distributable profits after tax, with a minute and voucher each time.
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.
The VAT registration threshold
Watching the rolling twelve-month turnover figure is one of the quiet jobs of monthly bookkeeping, because the £90,000 VAT threshold arrives silently. Crossing it brings quarterly returns, Making Tax Digital software and a decision about schemes. Crossing it late brings a bill for VAT you could not recover from customers and a penalty for failing to notify.
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.
Late filing penalties
HMRC's penalties for a late Self Assessment return are automatic: £100 the day after 31 January, £10 a day from three months late up to £900, then the greater of £300 or 5% of the tax at six and twelve months. Interest and separate late-payment penalties apply to the tax itself. Companies House charges £150 to £1,500 for late accounts, doubling for a second consecutive year.
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.
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.
Questions
Payroll questions from Downgate
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.
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.
What is the Employment Allowance?
Eligible employers can reduce their employer National Insurance bill by up to £10,500 a year (2026/27). Single-director companies with no other employees do not qualify. We claim it on your behalf where you are eligible, which for a small team often wipes out the employer NI entirely.
Do you provide payslips and P60s?
Yes. Electronic payslips go to each employee every pay period through a secure portal or by email as you prefer. P60s for everyone employed at 5 April are issued by 31 May. If you provide benefits such as a company car or private medical cover, P11Ds are prepared and filed by 6 July.
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.
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.
Do you have an office in Downgate?
No. IGI Accounting is an online-only firm. We serve Downgate, Tunbridge Wells and every other UK postcode remotely, with records sent by WhatsApp or email and everything filed electronically. The absence of local premises is why the fee for payroll is the same in Downgate as anywhere else in the country, and why there is nothing to visit and nothing to print.
Is payroll in Downgate really the same price as elsewhere?
Yes. The fee published on this page is what a client in Downgate, Tunbridge Wells pays and what a client in any other part of England pays. It is confirmed in writing before work starts and the invoice matches the quote. Where a higher package applies because your situation is more complex, we say so at the quote stage, never afterwards.
Ready to fix your fee in Downgate?
Tell us what you need. You get one fixed fee in writing, and nothing is filed until you approve it.