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We regularly write articles on a wide range of relevant topics so that contractors, consultants and freelancers can be better informed to make the right choices. Follow us on Twitter to stay up to date with the latest posts or browse the archive below.
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Tax Planning
In the 26 November 2025 Budget many tax increases were announced or confirmed, but some of these aren't getting put into place for several years. Knowing how and when tax rates change can be highly beneficial to you and your wallet!February is an ideal time to review your tax affairs, since there ca
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Electric Car Update
An update on the new BIK rates for electric vehicles and other company cars
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Maximise Your Business Savings with Allica Bank’s Business Rewards Account
Information on how Allica's business bank account is great for contractors, freelancers and consultants.
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National Insurance changes for employers from April 2025
Employer National Insurance contributions are changing from 6 April 2025. This article outlines what you need to do to prepare for this.
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The Tax Benefits of Electric Cars
Electric cars have many advantages and have been an attractive choice for business owners as a company car. However, the current benefit in kind charge of 2% is due to rise by 1% a year to 5% for the 2027/28 tax year. So, does it still makes sense to go electric?Buying a car through your businessHer
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Barry went off a cliff for food
Barry Adams went abseiling off the Avon Gorge to raise money and awareness for FareShare South West
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Smart Capture Saves Time
The Smart Capture allows you to upload a receipt and it will automatically extract the data and link it to your bank transactions.
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Beware of Companies House Scam
A warning about a recent scam involving letters from a company called Company Registry.
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FreeAgent Launches New Amazon Integration Feature
FreeAgent now integrates with Amazon, offering a hassle-free solution to managing e-commerce finances.
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Greg was on fire!
Greg Park, the client manager here at Focus Accountancy, recently took on a fiery challenge to raise money for FareShare SouthWest, a charity dedicated to tackling hunger and food waste. On Tuesday, February 27th, he participated in a fire walk at Bristol Cathedral, and lived to tell the tale.The fi
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Incorporation Relief: A Smart Move for Business Owners
Are you a sole trader or part of a business partnership considering a transition to a company structure? Incorporation Relief might just be the tax-saving solution you've been looking for. This valuable relief allows you to postpone Capital Gains Tax payments when transferring your business to a com
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A guide to your taxes
A simple guide with a clear overview of important dates and essential tax information for SMEs in the UK.
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Greg will be on fire!
Greg Park will do a Firewalk for the charity FareShare South West on Tuesday 27 February 2024 at 8.30pm.
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Easier GoCardless payments
We’re delighted to announce that FreeAgent have fine-tuned how and when you can take Direct Debit payments with GoCardless. This update will streamline how you can receive payments for your invoices, saving you valuable time and providing peace of mind. When you create an invoice and select the GoCa
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FreeAgent Training on Smart Capture
Free Training on FreeAgent's new Smart Capture feature on 22 February 2024 at 5pm.
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Income exceeding £100K? Start tax planning.
Find out how you can avoid paying too much tax once you earn over £100K in a year.
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Electric Car Incentives
Unlocking Tax Advantages: The UK's Electric Company Car Incentives Recently, HMRC implemented changes in response to a recent court case defeat. These adjustments reflect the United Kingdom's ongoing efforts to promote a greener and more sustainable future. Specifically, the focus has been on encour
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Sharing the love this Christmas
At Focus Accountancy our clients are at the heart of everything we do, and at this time of the year, we would of course like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.Traditionally people send out Christmas cards for this very purpose, but we have been doing things a little bit di
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Business pensions for directors
An outline of the benefits of pension contributions for company directors.
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HMRC VAT penalty reform
From January 2023, the way VAT penalties are incurred has changed, both for late submission and late payment.
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Corporation Tax Changes
From 1 April 2023, Corporation Tax for profits over £50K will go up from 19% to 25%.
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Get the most out of FreeAgent
How to get the most out of FreeAgent and ensure your financial records are up to date.
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Merry Christmas to everyone
At Focus Accountancy we care very much about our clients, and at this time of the year we would of course like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a happy New Year.Traditionally people send out Christmas cards for this very purpose, but we have been doing things a little bit differently for
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The Mini Budget 2022
What the Mini Budget 2022 means for businesses, and especially contractors, freelancers and consultants.
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Cycling to work
Find out more about the Cycle to Work Scheme
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A bald move for Greg
He did it! On the 6th of August, our very own Greg Park shaved off his (very) long hair to raise money for the people of Ukraine.After his hair was plaited it was cut off and preserved for the people of the Little Princess Trust. They make wigs for children who have lost their own hair through cance
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Greg's hair is going!
On Saturday 6 August 2022, at 1pm, our very own Greg Park will shave off his hair to raise money for the British Red Cross, and the people of Ukraine in particular.We are proud to support Greg in this endeavour and will match any donations up to £1,000.Greg's long hair is very much part of his ident
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The 2022 Budget
An overview of the 2022 Budget and what it means for our clients.
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Benchmarking in FreeAgent
Get more insight into how your business is performing with the FreeAgent Performance Benchmarking Report.
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Help to Grow: Digital
Help to Grow: Digital gives grants of up to £5,000 to support small businesses get digital CRM and accounting software.
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Dividend Tax Increase
From April 2022 the NIC and dividend tax will increase by 1.25% each. Contact us today to arrange your personal tax planning review.
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FreeAgent Mobile App
The FreeAgent Mobile App allows you to do your accounts on the go and never miss an important deadline again.
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Can I claim it?
An A-Z guide to claiming expenses for limited companies.
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Get data from receipts automatically
The new auto extract feature from FreeAgent will pull information from a receipt automatically into FreeAgent.
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How to re-register for VAT
How to re-register for VAT from within FreeAgent, after you have previously deregistered for VAT.
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Sure Start Maternity Grant
Are you expecting your first child? Then you could get a one-off payment of £500 to help towards the costs of having a child. This is known as the Sure Start Maternity Grant.You usually qualify for the grant if both of the following apply: • you’re expecting your first child, or you’re expecting a m
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Brexit Support Grants available now
Grants of up to £2,000 are available to help SMEs adapt to new customs and tax rules when trading with the EU
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The 2021 Budget
We're pleased to share an overview of the 2021 budget, as announced by Chancellor Rishi Sunak on 3 March 2021. You can read a comprehensive document from the ICPA (The Institute of Practising Accountants) here:The main points are: • Further support for individuals and businesses impacted by the pand
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Updates to the Furlough Scheme
It has been confirmed The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme has been extended until 30th September 2021. Up to the 30th June 2021, the grant available to employers will remain at its current level, with the Government paying 80% of a furloughed employee's Salary for hours not worked (capped at £2,500
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More companies created in 2020
In 2020 there were 8.2% more companies created than in 2019. More interesting information in this infographic from Inform Direct.
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New VAT deferral scheme
If you deferred paying VAT due in the period from 20 March to 30 June 2020 and can’t afford to pay by 31 March 2021, you can join the VAT deferral new payment scheme and pay your deferred VAT over a longer period.The online service will open on 23 February 2021 and close on 21
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We are 100% paperless
At Focus Accountancy we no longer accept any paperwork - all accounts must be submitted online.
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How to record sales & purchase transactions with businesses outside the UK from 01.01.21
This article, first published on the FreeAgent website, explains how VAT-registered businesses should record sales and purchase transactions with businesses based anywhere outside the UK from 1st January 2021.Please note that following the process outlined below is necessary for preparing and submit
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Cashflow management with CaFE
Focus are proud to have partnered with the Cashflow management system CaFE to help you manage your cashflow better.CaFE fully integrates with FreeAgent and highlights any impending cashflow issues before they occur.It will help you to make financial decisions, such as who to pay, who to chase and wh
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Business after Brexit
Now that Brexit has become a reality, it is important that you know what to do if you're doing business with our friends and neighbours in the EU.The best and most up to date source is the Government website which has the following resources (just click on the image to get to the relevant document):
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Benefits of Director Pension Payments
Pensions are a fantastic tax planning and investment vehicle, especially for company directors. A brief outline of some of the benefits are as follows:Tax Relief on ContributionsAs a director, you can contribute personally, out of post-tax income, and/or make employer contributions where the busines
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Cyber Security
A practical guide to cyber security for small businessesBecause small business owners often have less cyber security controls, they are just as likely to be targeted by cyber criminals as their multinational counterparts.This guide (first published by FreeAgent) aims to help you understand the world
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What is a Limited Cost Trader
If you are using the VAT Flat Rate Scheme (FRS) you may have to use a special percentage (16.5%). You will have to consider this for every VAT accounting period.How do you know if you're a limited cost trader?HMRC says that a limited cost trader is a business that buys only a few goods. More specifi
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Pensions for the self-employed
You may be in the middle of your working life at the moment, but you may also already be thinking about your retirement and all the things you'd like to do then. Yet recent research shows that only as little as 31% of self-employed people are paying into a pension. This is a worrying trend and we wa
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Details of the Job Retention Bonus
Find out more about the Job Retention Bonus which will pay £1,000 per eligible employee.
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FreeAgent Mobile App
Did you know that FreeAgent have a mobile app? This makes life even easier for you as you can do your accounts on the go.Here are some videos with more in-depth information:1. Introduction to FreeAgent Mobile2. Understanding your FreeAgent Mobile dashboard3. Create an expense with the FreeAgent app4
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Never miss a deadline
There are lots of deadlines you have to adhere to when you run a business, and it's important you don't miss them. There are three ways you can ensure you never miss a deadline:1. Check your tax timeline regularly in the bottom right of your overview2. Turn on your Monday Motivator and Insight Email
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Mettle: the new challenger bank
Mettle is a free business bank account for sole traders and small limited companies.
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New rules for property capital gains tax
As of 6 April 2020 there are new reporting and payment requirements for Capital Gains Tax on property.
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Budget 2020
A short summary of the tax measures introduced by the Chancellor on 11 March 2020.
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R&D tax credits
In order to support companies that work on innovative projects in science and technology, the government offers research and development (R&D) tax credits. This means that eligible companies could receive large cash payments from HMRC or significant reductions in corporation tax. It can be claimed b
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Limited Company vs Self-employed vs Employed
Between Brexit and changes to IR35 legislation, the contracting space is looking uncertain at best so many contractors are weighing up their options and considering a change. Going back to a stable salary with paid holiday can look attractive but it’s sometimes very hard to compare an annual salary
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Record keeping as a contractor
There are no rules on how to keep records as a contractor but your records need to be accurate, complete and readable.
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Tips for starting out as a contractor with a limited company
10 tips for starting your limited company as a contractor1. Invoice on timeIf you get a 12-month contract and you’re expected to invoice monthly, make sure you invoice on your last working day of the month. If you’re coming from a PAYE job, you’ll be used to getting regular monthly payments so try t
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Break the January stress cycle
Get your tax return submitted earlyJanuary is usually a tough month for everyone so why make it harder with the stress of scrambling to complete your tax return and pay a big tax bill? Isn’t the bad weather, the New Year’s resolution to get fit, empty post-Christmas bank account and the prospect of
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Claiming food as a business expense
Correctly claim food and drink expensesClaiming food as a business expense through a limited company can be very complicated as there are so many factors that come into play. We’ve made a quick 3-step model that should help you make the correct choice:1. Are you eating alone?If yes, move to question
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Get paid on time
Tips to help you get paid earlierWhile an IT contractor or creative freelancer is less likely to go out of business as a result of late payments than a trading company, late payments can cause significant financial difficulties. The issues that often cause late payments tend to have nothing to do wi
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Invoicing Guide
What needs to be on an invoice?Essential items • Your trading name – the name that your client will recognise as your business. • Your contact details – usually your name, an email address, phone number and physical address. • *Your VAT number – your 9 digit VAT number as well as your country code i
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Re-billing Expenses
Advice on passing your expenses onto your client Re-billing expenses might seem like a simple task but it’s an area that we commonly see mistakes especially where VAT is concerned. The rules around applying VAT to re-billed expenses are very different to the normal VAT rules and it’s not always easy
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IR35 tips for contractors
Tips to help contractors stay outside of IR35IR35 governs whether a contractor working through a limited company is a legitimate business or just an ‘off-payroll employee’ using the limited company structure to avoid. There is a major change in the legislation coming next April that will mean that m
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Tax breaks for electric car owners
Possible tax savings on electric company carsIn 20 years the UK plans to ban the manufacture of petrol/diesel cars so the switch to an electric car is more a choice of when rather than if. There were just 3,500 electric cars registered in the UK in 2013 and now there are around 230,000 so the techno
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How to spot HMRC scams
Spot the difference between real and fake HMRC communications In an age of MTD and tax ‘simplification’, HMRC are emailing, calling and even texting tax-payers more frequently. Hackers and con-artists have caught onto this and we’ve seen an influx of suspicious emails from people claiming to be HMR
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Payments on account for self-assessment
Explaining why you pay personal tax on account When your self-assessment tax bill goes over £1,000, you switch from the standard method of making one payment a year to making 2 payments a year on the payments on account system. The payments on account system for self-assessment makes sense on its ow
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Business Pension Contributions
Making personal pension contributions rather than business contributions through a company could cost you over £3k a year!
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Navigating the Government Gateway
A short guide on HMRC's online services and how to get your Government Gateway credentials.
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Open banking and FreeAgent
What is open banking and how it effects FreeAgent usersAlmost every client we’ve worked with loves FreeAgent but if there is ever an issue it’s likely to be something related to the bank feed. Bank feeds usually work brilliantly but established banks with old systems and the requirement for third-pa
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More bad news for landlords
Recent tax changes to be aware of if you have a rental propertyThere has been a trend in recent years of the government changing legislation to get more tax out of those who own more than one property. Changes to stamp duty and income tax have made it much less profitable to let properties but from
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How will IR35 affect the private sector?
When IR35 changes are coming and what will changeWhat is IR35?IR35 is the legislation that governs whether a contractor is a separate entity to the business they contract for or whether they are just an ‘off-payroll employee’ attempting to avoid tax by operating through a limited company. There is a
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2019/20 tax year
The new tax year started a few weeks ago and there are some significant changes for small business owners. You can download the Focus Accountancy tax app to get up to date tax rates as well as lots of other useful features but we’ve summarised most of the important changes that may affect you below
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Case study - James' Year Off
To most people, this graph doesn’t depict a healthy business. The consistent turnover and profits have plummeted to the point where we’re currently seeing a loss in 2018/19 with £0 turnover. This is however, a business that we feel is very healthy because this is data from James’ company. We’ve been
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Get paid to switch banks
If you bank with RBS or Natwest you might be able to get paid up to £1,000 to switch to someone else! During the 2008 recession, RBS received financial support from the Government and to receive the money they had to agree to help increase competition in UK business banking by reducing their market
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Auto Enrolment changes
The minimum contributions you and your staff pay into your automatic enrolment workplace pension scheme will increase from 6th April 2019. Employers will have to contribute at least 3% into the pension scheme and the total contribution needs to be at least 8%.Who does this apply to?If you are an emp
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Banking in 2018
In the last few years we’ve seen an influx in a new type of app-based personal bank that promises heaps of advantages over their old school, high street rivals. You may have heard of Starling, Monzo or Atom Bank that are becoming increasingly popular as ‘Challenger Banks’ to the traditional banks th
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Becoming a buy to let landlord
Ideally the government wants more home owners but with house prices so high it’s very difficult for first time buyers to get on to the property ladder. Instead was has happened over the past 30 years is that homeowners with higher incomes have bought more properties to rent out as an alternative to
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When is a workplace temporary?
Ask most people where they work, and they won’t hesitate as it should be a fairly simple answer but for years contractors have had to deal with complex rules around when a client’s premises is and isn’t their permanent place of work.It’s very common for contractors, consultants and freelancers to wo
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GDPR
What is GDPR?The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is replacing the Data Protection Act 1998 from 25th May 2018. GDPR will harmonise data protection laws across the EU and will update the current regulations to take full account of globalisation, and the ever-changing technology landscape. T
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Changes in 2018/19
The new tax year started last Friday and there are some very significant changes for small business owners. The government often focus on the increases in tax free allowances and tax brackets going up so that we will save money but the decrease in the tax free dividend allowance will almost certain
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Marriage allowance
What is Marriage allowance?Marriage Allowance is a scheme run by HMRC to make taxes on married couples fairer. It basically reduces the tax bill for couples where one partner is earning most of the income by allowing the lower earner to transfer some of their tax free personal allowance to the highe
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FreeAgent training session tailored to your needs
We are now running 1 to 1 FreeAgent training sessions for our clients either at our office or elsewhere in Bristol for just £25 +VAT. We will not only give you a guided tour of the software, we will highlight areas that may be particularly useful to your business, use relevant examples from your pre
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IR35 Update
IR35 is the legislation that decides whether a contractor is genuinely a separate entity to the business they contract for or whether they are an ‘off-payroll employee’ that is just attempting to avoid tax by operating through a Ltd company. There was a major change in the legislation back in April
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New to standard rate VAT?
IntroductionSince the new legislation on flat rate VAT came in in April thousands of small businesses have been forced into making the change over to standard rate VAT. It’s clear that the added administration and complexity is putting extra pressure on small business directors so we created this gu
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Tax-free childcare
The childcare voucher scheme allows your employer to pay for childcare out of your pre-tax salary under certain circumstances. This can result in £1,000+ in annual savings on tax and NI in some families but there are requirements that need to be met and limits to what can be paid for. This current s
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Trivial benefits
Figuring out if you need to file a P11D or how to avoid needing one can be a fairly difficult task for small businesses but last year HMRC brought in some new legislation regarding ‘trivial’ benefits in kind that makes the decision a little easier. This change in legislation basically means that emp
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Lifetime ISA
The Lifetime ISA or LISA is a new savings product designed to encourage young people to save money long-term. From April, eligible savers can benefit from government bonuses by putting money into a LISA. While the LISA is quite flexible in terms of how you could input money, it has two main options
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Changes to IR35 in the public sector
HMRC are making fundamental changes to IR35 from April 2017 that could see people who have operated outside of IR35 in the public sector for years suddenly fall under its rules and take home considerably less income as a result. The major change is that HMRC is moving the responsibility of deciding
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The Budget 2017
While the budget has been all over news and social media, the changes that grab the headlines are rarely the ones that really affect us in our day to day lives and are often skewed by political views. We have condensed the 68-page budget into a few brief points that could potentially have an impact
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Getting the most out of FreeAgent
Whether you’re a seasoned FreeAgent user, new to the software or about to get started with FreeAgent, it’s likely that you’re not utilising its full potential. We’ve worked closely with FreeAgent for over 3 years so we know the system back to front and we’ve found the 3 most under-utilised features
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Changes to flat rate VAT
Flat Rate VAT has been an asset to many small businesses by simplifying their administration and usually turning a small profit on the VAT charged to customers. However, HMRC have decided that the scheme is being ‘aggressively abused’ and they’ve put their foot down to try to stop this abuse by brin
Next tax deadline
Key HMRC dates
– days away
- 31 January Self Assessment tax return, balancing payment and first payment on account due
- 7 February MTD for Income Tax quarterly update due (quarter to 5 January)
- 5 April End of the tax year
- 6 April New tax year begins
- 7 May MTD for Income Tax quarterly update due (quarter to 5 April)
- 31 July Second payment on account due
- 7 August MTD for Income Tax quarterly update due (quarter to 5 July)
- 5 October Register for Self Assessment if you started trading in the last tax year
- 7 November MTD for Income Tax quarterly update due (quarter to 5 October)
These are the standard HMRC dates for individuals, sole traders and landlords. Company deadlines for accounts, corporation tax and VAT depend on your year end, and we'll tell you yours.
Guides
Our guides
- Paying your taxesDeadlines, payment links, bank details and what happens if you pay late.
- Making Tax DigitalMTD for Income Tax thresholds, quarterly deadlines and penalties.
- IR35What it is, how status is decided, and a free independent review.
- BankingChoosing a business bank account, and the banks we partner with.
- InsuranceContractor insurance and IR35 reviews with Kingsbridge.
- PensionsSetting up director or personal pension contributions.
- LegalThe Bristol law firm we recommend.
- Jargon busterAccounting terms explained, A to Z.
- Frequently asked questionsThe questions most new clients ask us.
- The client portalHow our secure document portal works.
- FreeAgent helpTips, videos, webinars and answers for FreeAgent users.
Factsheets
Reference factsheets
Plain-English factsheets on tax and business topics, kept up to date each tax year.
Infozone
Tax rates and calculators
Current rates, allowances and thresholds, plus useful calculators.
Tax planning
Tax planning for 2025 to 2026
Tax planning is an easy way to save yourself thousands in taxes every year. This document has all the information you need about tax planning for the 2025 to 2026 tax year.
The Focus App
Tax tips, up-to-date tax rates and calculators to help with decisions like 'should I get a company car?' or 'should I be a sole trader or a limited company?'.