Sole Trader Accounts · North West
Sole trader accounts in Ince-in-Makerfield
If you trade as a sole trader in Ince-in-Makerfield and your records are a bank statement and a bag of receipts, that is fine. We rebuild the year, tell you what you can claim, and produce accounts you can rely on. From £149 for the self-employed across North West, with monthly bookkeeping available if you would rather never have a shoebox again.
from £149 · fixed, per year
Next deadlines
- Online Self Assessment filing deadline and balancing payment due
- Tax year ends: last day for pension, ISA and dividend timing decisions
- Making Tax Digital for Income Tax: quarterly updates for sole traders and landlords over £50,000 (from April 2026) and over £30,000 (from April 2027)
- Second payment on account due
Who this is for
Sole Trader Accounts for Ince-in-Makerfield
Self-employed people in Ince-in-Makerfield 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.
What is included
Everything inside the fixed fee
- 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
How it works
Sole Trader Accounts from Ince-in-Makerfield, 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 Ince-in-Makerfield
The price for sole trader accounts is published on this page and is what a client in Ince-in-Makerfield pays. We confirm it in writing first, and the invoice matches the quote.
Deadline-first: the dates that matter for sole trader accounts are shown at the top of this page, diarised for every Ince-in-Makerfield client and chased before they arrive.
Online only, UK based. There is no office in Ince-in-Makerfield to pay for, which is why the fee is the same here as anywhere in England; the work is done by people in the UK who answer the same day.
Continuity matters in sole trader accounts: the person who prepared last year's work for your Ince-in-Makerfield business prepares this year's, and remembers what was agreed.
Plain English, with the numbers. Every draft for Ince-in-Makerfield comes with a short explanation of what the figures mean and what, if anything, you should do about them.
You stay in control of sole trader accounts: drafts go to Ince-in-Makerfield clients first, with the figures explained, and nothing leaves us until you say so.
Local facts
About Ince-in-Makerfield
Ince-in-Makerfield is in North West, in the WN3 postcode district, 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Ince, Lower | 0.2 mi | SE |
| Lower Ince | 0.2 mi | SE |
| Little Westwood | 0.4 mi | W |
| Westwood, Little | 0.4 mi | W |
| School Common | 0.6 mi | NW |
| Scholes, Wigan | 0.7 mi | N |
| Higher Ince | 0.7 mi | NE |
| Ince, Higher | 0.7 mi | NE |
Worth knowing
Rules that come up in this work
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.
Director's loan accounts
Money taken from a company has to be something: salary, dividend, expense reimbursement or loan. If it is a loan and remains outstanding nine months after the year end, the company pays tax at the dividend higher rate on it until it is repaid. Clearing the balance with a properly declared dividend before the deadline, where reserves allow, is routine year-end work.
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.
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.
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
Making Tax Digital for Income Tax began in April 2026 for sole traders and landlords with qualifying income over £50,000, extends to those over £30,000 in April 2027 and is planned for £20,000 in April 2028. It requires digital records in compatible software and four quarterly updates to HMRC each year, with a final declaration replacing the traditional return. Payment dates are unchanged.
The Self Assessment calendar
Four dates govern Self Assessment: 5 October to register, 31 October for paper returns, 31 January to file online and pay, and 31 July for the second payment on account. Missing the January date triggers an automatic £100 penalty before any tax is even considered, so we treat it as the fixed point around which the rest of the year is planned.
Questions
Sole Trader Accounts questions from Ince-in-Makerfield
What National Insurance do sole traders pay?
Class 4 at 6% on profits between £12,570 and £50,270 and 2% above that, collected through Self Assessment. Class 2 is no longer compulsory; profits above £7,105 earn National Insurance credits automatically, and below that you can pay Class 2 voluntarily at £3.65 a week to protect your State Pension record.
I started trading part-way through the year. What is my first accounting period?
Since the basis period reform, sole traders are taxed on profits of the tax year, 6 April to 5 April, regardless of accounting date. A first period runs from your start date to 5 April. If you prefer a different accounting date we apportion the profits, but for most new traders a 5 April year end is simplest.
Should I become a limited company?
It depends on profit level, how much you need to draw, liability exposure and whether you want to retain profits. At modest profits the saving is small after the extra compliance cost; at higher profits incorporation can help. Our free comparison tool gives a first view and the tax planning review gives a definitive one.
What if HMRC checks my return?
HMRC can enquire into a return within twelve months of filing, and longer if something was omitted. Well-prepared accounts with organised records are the best protection. If an enquiry opens, routine correspondence about a return we filed is handled free, and formal enquiries go through our fixed-fee investigation service.
Can you deal with my previous accountant?
Yes. Once you authorise us we write for professional clearance and your records, including the previous year's accounts and capital allowance pools, which we need for continuity. Most firms respond within two weeks and nothing about switching changes our fee.
Cash basis or accruals: which should I use?
Since April 2024 the cash basis is the default for sole traders and has no turnover limit; you record income when received and expenses when paid. Accruals matches income and costs to the period they relate to and suits businesses with stock, large debtors or losses to carry. We recommend one based on your figures and explain why.
Do you have an office in Ince-in-Makerfield?
No. IGI Accounting is an online-only firm. We serve Ince-in-Makerfield 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 sole trader accounts is the same in Ince-in-Makerfield as anywhere else in the country, and why there is nothing to visit and nothing to print.
Is sole trader accounts in Ince-in-Makerfield really the same price as elsewhere?
Yes. The fee published on this page is what a client in Ince-in-Makerfield 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 Ince-in-Makerfield?
Tell us what you need. You get one fixed fee in writing, and nothing is filed until you approve it.