But, taxes aren’t just something you can ignore in the hope that they’ll go away. If you fail to pay, you could end up in a sticky situation with the taxman. From tactiful marketing advice to business expansion strategy, we have the tips and tricks to help you take https://time.news/how-can-retail-accounting-streamline-your-inventory-management/ your business to the next level. As a rule of thumb, documents related to tax must be kept for a minimum of 7 years. This is also known as 6+1 years as it is the year to which they relate plus 6 years. Documents related to payroll must be kept for at least 4 years.

For sole traders – you’ll only need to worry about employer’s NICs if you have employees . We’ve got articles explaining and also an article explaining self-employed National Insurance for sole traders further. Whether the status of your business might benefit from the credibility of a limited company. If your company has traded at all, then you will need to prepare and file company accounts, we can help with this if you need.

HMRC issues guidance on abolition of pensions lifetime allowance

If your business is a limited company it must pay corporation tax on its profits – both from trading and from the sale of investments or assets. Note that you if you dispose of UK residential property and you have capital gains tax to pay, then you must file a separate return within 60 days of the disposal. Similar rules apply if you are non-resident in the UK and you dispose of UK land or property, even if there is no capital gains tax to pay.

So, in practice, it works best to complete your company tax return early to find out how much corporation tax you’ll owe. One alternative is to use tax software retail accounting that adds up your income and expenses over the financial year. As long as you input your figures carefully, your calculations will be 100% error-free.

Why you should check your tax code

The deadline for registering for Self-Assessment is 31 Oct 2021. Guidance on the professional advice you’ll need around taxes, legal and insurance to set up a business in Scotland. If you commercialise your patent in Scotland or develop a new patent here, you may benefit from the Patent Box scheme. This means paying reduced corporation tax on any profits you make by commercialising those patents – it could be as little as 10%.