Accountants in Droylsden

No. Our Greater Manchester office is Phoenix House in Stalybridge, and we work with Droylsden clients by video call and by visiting them at their own premises. We would rather be straight about how this works than imply an office on every high street. If you would rather come to us, the Stalybridge office is a short drive from Droylsden and has parking on site.

Yes. If your client is a medium or large business, or in the public sector, the client makes the status decision; we check whether that decision is right and help you challenge it if it is not. If your client is small, your company decides, and we make that assessment with you. We will review your contracts and working practices and give you a clear view of your status, along with what to do about it if the answer is not the one you wanted.

Often a good deal more than the flat rates, but the route matters. If you are self-employed you can use simplified expenses (£10 to £26 a month, depending on the hours you work at home) or apportion your actual household costs. Employees and directors can no longer claim tax relief from HMRC for working from home from 6 April 2026, so any payment now has to come from the employer. If you work through your own company, it can pay you £6 a week tax free, but a licence agreement usually does better: the company pays rent for the room at the apportioned cost, and that rent nets to nil on your own return. Under a licence agreement, mortgage interest is usually left out of the rent, because you would get only basic rate relief on it against the rental income (section 272A ITTOIA 2005). Whichever route you use, the room should not be used exclusively for business, so that private residence relief is not restricted when you sell your home (section 224 TCGA 1992). We will set it up and do the sums.

It depends on your profit level, whether you need to draw all the profit out and what your plans are. Since 6 April 2026 dividends above the £500 allowance are taxed at 10.75% for basic rate taxpayers and 35.75% for higher rate taxpayers, so a company now saves less than many people expect, and at around £50,000 of profit, drawn out in full, it can cost more. Where profits are left in the business, or limited liability matters, the answer can change. We will run both scenarios with your actual numbers and show you the difference. Our guide to salary and dividends in 2026/27 sets out the rates.

If you are self-employed or a landlord with qualifying income over £50,000 in 2024/25, you should have been keeping digital records and sending quarterly updates from 6 April 2026. The threshold falls to £30,000 from April 2027 and £20,000 from April 2028. We set up the software, keep the records and file the updates for you. Our guide to Making Tax Digital for Income Tax explains the rules.

Yes. We prepare rental accounts and Self Assessment returns for Droylsden landlords, make sure every allowable cost is claimed and advise on whether a new property is better held personally or through a company. Landlords come into Making Tax Digital for Income Tax on the same timetable as sole traders, and we can run that for you. Our page on accountants for landlords explains how we work.

Yes, including Amazon, Shopify and eBay businesses. E-commerce VAT has its own rules, and since 2024 online marketplaces have sent HMRC an annual report of each seller’s details and sales, so your figures need to reconcile with theirs.

Yes. Late filing is more common than people admit and it is fixable. For a Self Assessment return, HMRC charges £100 as soon as the deadline passes, £10 a day after three months (up to £900), then 5% of the tax due or £300, whichever is greater, at six months and again at twelve months. Unpaid tax also attracts interest and late payment penalties. Company accounts and corporation tax returns have their own penalty scales, and Companies House penalties double if accounts are late two years in a row. The sooner the returns are filed, the less it costs. We prepare the outstanding tax returns or company accounts and deal with HMRC on your behalf.

Yes. If your company is solvent and has stopped trading, we prepare the final accounts and final corporation tax return, close the PAYE and VAT registrations, and apply to Companies House to have the company struck off. The application cannot be made until the company has gone three months without trading, and a copy must go to shareholders, creditors and employees within seven days of filing (sections 1004 and 1006 Companies Act 2006). Where the total paid out to shareholders before strike-off is £25,000 or less, and the company has collected what it is owed and settled its debts (or intends to), the payment is treated as capital rather than as a dividend (section 1030A CTA 2010). If the total goes over £25,000, the whole amount is taxed as a dividend, so above that level we work with a licensed insolvency practitioner on a members’ voluntary liquidation.

In either case the payment is normally taxed as a capital gain, and Business Asset Disposal Relief can bring the rate down from 24% to 18% on up to £1m of lifetime qualifying gains. To qualify, the company must have been a trading company and your personal company throughout the two years before the trade stopped: you held at least 5% of the ordinary shares and voting rights, were entitled to at least 5% of the profits and assets (or of sale proceeds), and were an officer or employee. The payment must be made within three years of the trade stopping (sections 169H to 169S TCGA 1992). Capital treatment is not automatic: if you carry on the same or a similar trade or activity within two years and avoiding income tax was a main purpose, HMRC can tax the payment as a dividend under section 396B ITTOIA 2005, so we check this before anything is paid out.