Accountants in
Norwich

You generally need to file if you were self-employed with turnover over £1,000, received rental income, are a company director taking dividends, made a capital gain above the annual exempt amount, or earned over £50,000 while you or your partner claimed Child Benefit.

If you have had a notice to file from HMRC you must submit a return even if you owe nothing, until HMRC withdraws the notice. If you are not sure, ask us — it takes five minutes to check.

HMRC’s points-based system gives you a penalty point for each late return. Once you reach the threshold for your filing frequency — four points for quarterly returns — you get a £200 penalty, and a further £200 for every late return after that.

Late payment is separate and charged as a percentage of the tax outstanding, increasing the longer it goes unpaid, plus interest. Points do expire after a period of compliance, so getting back on track does eventually clear the slate.

19% on profits up to £50,000 and 25% on profits over £250,000. Between those figures marginal relief applies, which produces an effective marginal rate of 26.5% on the profits falling in the band.

Both thresholds are divided by the number of associated companies. If you control two companies, the small profits limit becomes £25,000 each, which frequently surprises people who set up a second company for a side venture.

Yes. There are two approaches. The simplified flat rate gives you a fixed monthly amount based on hours worked from home, which needs no receipts and suits most people. Alternatively you can apportion actual costs — rent or mortgage interest, council tax, utilities, insurance — by the number of rooms used and the time they are used for business.

The apportioned method usually gives a larger claim but requires records. We work out which is better for you rather than defaulting to the easy one.

Accounts are due at Companies House nine months after your accounting reference date. Your corporation tax return is due twelve months after year end, but the tax itself must be paid nine months and one day after year end — so payment comes before the return is due.

A first set of accounts is different: they are due 21 months after incorporation. We put all of your dates in writing at the start so nothing creeps up.

20% for subcontractors registered under CIS, 30% for unregistered ones, and nothing for those holding gross payment status. Deductions apply to the labour element only — materials, plant hire and VAT are excluded, provided the invoice separates them.

The money is not an extra tax. It is an advance payment against the subcontractor’s eventual Income Tax and National Insurance, and it is set against their bill at the end of the year.