Freelancer accountants in Fulwell and Hampton Hill

Freelancers and independent professionals in Fulwell and Hampton Hill: designers, developers, writers and editors, marketers, photographers and videographers, consultants, translators, musicians and performers, tutors and coaches, whether trading as a sole trader, through a limited company, or still deciding, and whether full time or alongside employment.

• Monthly bookkeeping from your bank feed with invoices and expenses captured by phone
• Self Assessment with the self-employment pages for sole trader freelancers, or accounts, CT600 and payroll for company freelancers
• Expense review for the costs freelancers miss: home office, equipment, software, subscriptions, training, travel
• Payments on account and a monthly set-aside figure so the January bill is never a surprise
• Making Tax Digital readiness and quarterly updates when your income reaches the threshold
• A going-freelance starter session covering structure, registration, pricing for tax and what to keep

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.

Fulwell and Hampton Hill is in South West London, within Richmond upon Thames, in the TW12 postcode district, 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.

Director's loan accounts

A director's loan account records money moving between a director and the company that is not salary or dividend. If the director owes the company money nine months and one day after the year end, the company pays section 455 tax at 35.75% of the balance, refundable only when the loan is repaid. Loans over £10,000 are also a benefit in kind unless interest is charged at HMRC's official rate.

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.

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.

The VAT registration threshold

The £90,000 VAT threshold is measured over any twelve consecutive months, which is why a strong quarter can tip a business over unexpectedly. Registration must follow within thirty days of the end of the month the threshold was crossed. Below the threshold, voluntary registration is worth considering when customers are VAT-registered businesses and costs carry VAT.

Allowable expenses

The expenses sole traders most often miss are home working costs, claimed by actual proportion or HMRC's flat rate, the business share of phone and internet, mileage at 45p for the first 10,000 business miles, and training that maintains existing skills. The ones most often claimed wrongly are commuting, entertaining customers and clothes that could be worn outside work.

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.

Record keeping

HMRC requires records of all income and expenses, bank statements, invoices and receipts to be kept for at least five years after the 31 January filing deadline of the tax year they relate to, and companies must keep records for six years from the end of the accounting period. Digital copies are acceptable. Under Making Tax Digital the records must be kept in compatible software.