Accountants in Potters Bar
Our Hertfordshire office is at Suite H, 230 High Street, Potters Bar EN6 5BL. We act for clients here and across the UK, mostly by video call, with in person meetings whenever they are genuinely useful.
Potters Bar has a business population that is heavily weighted towards owner managed companies, professional services, consultants and property. It is also a town where a lot of people run a London facing business from a Hertfordshire base, which creates its own set of questions about where to be registered and how to structure things.
Chartered Accountants and Chartered Tax Advisers in Potters Bar
Merit is dual qualified. We are Chartered Accountants and Chartered Tax Advisers, and it is the second qualification that changes the value of the relationship. A compliance firm records what happened and calculates what you owe. We do that, and a Chartered Tax Adviser then reviews the same position and asks whether it could have been arranged better, in time for you to do something about it.
Our founder worked inside HMRC, so we know how enquiries start and where inspectors look. Our partners have built their own businesses from nothing to over £1m in turnover, so the commercial advice comes from people who have actually run something.
Our Potters Bar office
Suite H, 230 High Street, Potters Bar, Hertfordshire EN6 5BL.
We are also on Google. View our Google Business Profile to read our client reviews.
- By video: most meetings happen this way and it is usually the quickest option for everyone.
- In person at your premises: we will come to you where sitting down together helps.
- At our office: Suite H, 230 High Street, Potters Bar EN6 5BL, near the station and junction 24 of the M25.
What Potters Bar and Hertfordshire clients come to us for
Owner managed companies and consultants
Profit extraction is the recurring theme. The default low salary and dividend arrangement suits a lot of directors, but it should be reviewed every year rather than left running, particularly once profits enter the marginal corporation tax band between £50,000 and £250,000 where the effective rate is 26.5%.
Higher earners and the 60% tax trap
This affects a large number of people in this part of Hertfordshire. Once adjusted net income passes £100,000 the personal allowance is withdrawn at £1 for every £2 of income, which creates an effective marginal rate of 60% on the band between £100,000 and £125,140.
Example. Someone earning £120,000 makes a £20,000 personal pension contribution. That brings adjusted net income back to £100,000, restoring the full personal allowance. The effective relief on that contribution is 60%, so the £20,000 in the pension costs £8,000 net. There is no cleverness involved. It simply has to be done before 5 April, and somebody has to be watching the number.
Property investors and landlords
Section 24 finance cost restriction, whether to hold property personally or through a company, the 60 day capital gains reporting deadline, and ATED for companies holding UK residential property worth over £500,000. That last one is easy to miss and the penalties for a late return apply even where no tax is due.
Non resident landlords and international clients
If you own UK property and live abroad, the Non Resident Landlord Scheme determines whether tax is deducted at source. Getting registered correctly means receiving rent gross rather than net.
If none of these sound like your business, that changes nothing. They are the most common conversations we have in Potters Bar, not a list of who qualifies. The planning is the same whatever you sell.
Services from our Potters Bar office
- Year end accounts and corporation tax returns including CT600 filing
- Bookkeeping and monthly management accounts
- VAT registration, returns and MTD compliance
- Payroll, P11Ds and auto enrolment
- Self assessment for directors, landlords and higher earners
- Capital gains tax and 60 day property returns
- ATED returns for companies holding UK residential property
- Non resident landlord compliance
- HMRC enquiry and investigation support
- Proactive tax planning reviewed by a Chartered Tax Adviser
Book a free meeting in Potters Bar
Bring your last set of accounts and we will give you an honest view on whether we can improve them. Book an appointment online or call the Hertfordshire office.
Speak to a Chartered Tax Adviser Today
Frequently asked questions
Suite H, 230 High Street, Potters Bar EN6 5BL, a short walk from the station.
Yes. Potters Bar is our Hertfordshire base and we act for clients across Barnet, Enfield, Cuffley, Brookmans Park, Hatfield and the wider county, as well as into north London.
Usually yes. The personal allowance taper creates a 60% effective rate between £100,000 and £125,140, and pension contributions or charitable giving made before 5 April can bring adjusted net income back under the threshold. It has to be done before the tax year ends.
If the property is UK residential and worth more than £500,000, almost certainly yes, even if a relief means no tax is payable. The return is still required and late filing carries penalties.
It depends on your marginal rate, whether you need the rental income to live on and how long you intend to hold. We will model both with your actual figures rather than give you a general answer.
A fixed monthly fee agreed in advance based on the size of the business and the services required. No hourly billing.
Yes, at any point in the year. We write for professional clearance and handle the handover, which normally takes about a fortnight.
Yes. London at 16 Upper Woburn Place WC1H, and Manchester at Phoenix House, Stalybridge. Clients are welcome at whichever is most convenient.
