Tax planning in practice
Corporate Tax Services
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Where the Corporation Tax savings sit
Effective tax planning is about structuring your commercial decisions so the reliefs that genuinely apply to your business are claimed in time. We identify which reliefs fit your situation and advise on the timing (pension contributions, capital spend, remuneration timing) so you pay what you owe and not more.
Director Profit Extraction
Drawing funds from a Limited Company needs the figures checked before you take profit. We advise on the balance of a tax-efficient salary (typically up to the Primary Threshold) alongside dividend declarations, factoring in your personal allowances, the dividend allowance reductions, and potential spouse income splitting so the total Income Tax and National Insurance position lands as efficiently as the rules allow.
Read Director Strategy Guide ->Capital Allowances & Full Expensing
Timing on capital spend matters. Full Expensing and the Annual Investment Allowance (AIA) both give 100% relief on qualifying plant and machinery in the year of purchase, so an order placed in March or April can land in completely different tax years. We review the capital requirement with you and advise on the sequence of spend, so the relief lands where it reduces the bill.
Read the Capital Allowances Guide ->Employer Pension Contributions
Employer pension contributions can be one of the cleaner ways for directors to move money into a pension. Contributions made directly by your limited company into a director's pension are generally treated as an allowable business expense. This reduces your Corporation Tax liability and moves cash into a protected personal pension without dividend tax.
Marginal Relief & Profit Banding
With the 19% small profits rate, the 25% main rate, and Marginal Relief in between, the effective Corporation Tax rate now varies meaningfully across the £50k-£250k profit band. We advise on the timing of dividends, pension contributions, and capital purchases to keep your effective rate as efficient as the rules allow.
Read the Marginal Relief Guide ->
Capital allowances in depth
Where the relief is often missed.
Capital allowances are one of the most valuable tools in the planning kit, and the place where the biggest claims are routinely missed. Pool classification, AIA timing against the accounting period, and the distinction between SBA-eligible construction costs and plant-and-machinery integral features all change the outcome. Our capital allowances guide covers the full ruleset; the three entries below are the ones that matter most for owner-managed limiteds.
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Annual Investment Allowance
100% first-year deduction on qualifying plant and machinery, up to the £1m cap. For many small and medium-sized companies it is the main relief to check first, with an associated-companies rule that matters for groups.
02Full Expensing
Uncapped 100% first-year deduction for companies buying new main-rate plant and machinery, permanent from 2024. Where AIA runs out, Full Expensing picks up. Companies only.
03Integral features
Electrical systems, heating, air conditioning, lifts. These are named in the Capital Allowances Act. The biggest single claim routinely missed on commercial fit-outs, because the builder's invoice is not broken down.
Personal tax planning
Personal tax planning for business owners
Your company tax position is only half of the equation. Salary, pension contributions and dividend timing affect the personal tax bill too. We review both sides through the year.
Spouse Income Splitting
If your spouse has unused personal allowance or basic-rate band, setting up shares in both names can reduce the family's overall tax bill.
Capital Gains Tax planning
Using the annual exempt amount well, and structuring around Business Asset Disposal Relief (BADR) where the conditions are met, so long-term business gains are taxed at 10% rather than the headline CGT rate.
Dividend timing
Navigating the shrinking dividend allowance to correctly time declarations across tax years and avoid higher-rate triggers where commercially possible.
Personal Pensions
Balancing personal contributions with company contributions to maximise higher-rate tax relief and protect against the 60% effective tax band that opens up between £100,000 and £125,140 of personal income, where the personal allowance tapers away.
Upcoming changes
Preparing for the 2026 mandates.
MTD for ITSA requires digital record-keeping and quarterly submissions to HMRC for people caught by the rules. We review your records, fill the gaps HMRC will check for, and handle the move before the first update is due.
MTD for ITSA 2026
Sole traders and landlords with gross income over £50,000 must now keep digital records and submit quarterly updates to HMRC via Making Tax Digital compatible software. We review your current record-keeping, flag the digital-link gaps, and set up the move before the first update is due.
View MTD for ITSA guideMarginal Relief Thresholds
Corporation Tax is no longer a flat rate. Companies with profits between £50,000 and £250,000 fall into the Marginal Relief band, where the effective rate rises meaningfully within the band. We advise on the timing of dividends, pension contributions, and capital spend to keep the effective rate as efficient as the rules allow.
Use Corporation Tax & Marginal Relief ->ECCTA compliance
The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act has shifted Companies House from a passive filer to an active regulator. Every active director and Person with Significant Control (PSC) now has to complete statutory identity verification, and only firms holding Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP) status can carry that verification out on a company's behalf.
Blue Jay Accountants is regulated by CIMA and authorised by Companies House under the ACSP regime, so identity verification, Confirmation Statements and PSC updates run alongside your tax planning rather than across three separate logins. Registered office rules are tighter too: PO boxes no longer qualify as an Appropriate Address, and we check the company's public-file address against the new test as part of onboarding.
Read about ACSP identity verification ->
How we work
Tax planning through the year
Tax planning is not one conversation in March. We check where you stand before each deadline and adjust if anything has changed.
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Check the current position
We start with the current accounts and the last few years of filings: checking the figures stand up, picking out anything overpaid, and flagging points that are costing you each year.
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Plan how you take money out
We design a salary, pension and dividend schedule for the year, modelled against your personal income position and the company's retained-cash requirements.
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Review before year-end
We review the tax position 2 to 3 months before the year-end deadline so there is still time to bring forward expenditure, file capital allowance claims, and use any reliefs that still apply.
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Regular checks
Where your fee includes management accounts, we read the running tax position from those figures, so you know what is heading to HMRC well before the bill arrives instead of guessing at year-end.
Sector issues
Tax issues that build up in each sector
The tax decisions that move the most money usually depend on the sector: CIS materials handling for trades, marketplace VAT and landed-cost reporting for e-commerce, Section 24 and SPV structuring for landlords, IR35 status review for contractors. We check these during the year, so the decision is made before the cost is fixed.
Construction (CIS) & Reverse Charge VAT
Two rules quietly cause the most CIS and VAT trouble in construction: deducting CIS on materials (which is not allowed; deductions apply only to the labour element), and applying the Domestic Reverse Charge for VAT (the construction-sector rule that shifts VAT liability to the main contractor) correctly across the supply chain. Getting either wrong puts Gross Payment Status at risk and creates VAT mismatches that the next return makes visible. We review the invoicing with you and put both right where they have drifted.
Read the construction, CIS and reverse-charge guide ->
Property Portfolios & Section 24
Because of Section 24, landlords can no longer deduct mortgage interest from rental income before calculating tax, often pushing them into higher tax brackets and eroding real profit. We work through your portfolio's performance with you and advise on whether incorporating into a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) is likely to restore the position once the Stamp Duty cost and ongoing administration are factored in.
See our property tax page ->
Capital Gains Tax (CGT) on Asset Disposals
Whether you are selling shares, investment property, or the whole business, CGT rewards forward planning. Business Asset Disposal Relief (formerly Entrepreneurs' Relief) can bring up to £1 million of lifetime gains down to a 10% rate, but the conditions have to be in place well before the sale, not assembled retrospectively.
Planning ahead can save you tax.
Tax planning works by getting ahead of decisions (capital spend, pension contributions, dividend timing) early enough to change the outcome. Once the year has closed, the return is just the receipt for the decisions that were already made.
We work alongside you through the year ahead, not after the year has closed:
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Pre-Year-End Reviews We check your Corporation Tax and Marginal Relief position months before your year-end, so there is still time to bring the rate down with capital spending or pension contributions.
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Current tax figures With current numbers in front of you during the year, the cash to set aside for HMRC is a known figure, not something you reconstruct nine months after the year has closed.
Your tax position, known in advance.
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Common questions
Frequently asked questions
Tax planning, the difference from avoidance, and how this fits with the rest of your accounting.
What is the difference between tax planning and tax avoidance?
Tax planning is the entirely legal and commercially prudent process of organising your financial affairs to ensure you only pay the statutory minimum tax required by HMRC. It utilises government-approved reliefs, allowances, and structures (like pension contributions or capital allowances). Tax avoidance involves bending the rules of the tax system to gain an advantage that Parliament never intended, which often results in HMRC investigations and severe penalties.
When is the best time to do corporate tax planning?
Tax planning should run throughout the year, alongside your management accounts. The most important window is usually 2 to 3 months before your company's financial year-end. That gives enough time to deal with capital investments, director pension contributions, or bringing forward expenditure before the Corporation Tax bill is fixed.
How can directors reduce their personal tax liability legally?
Most directors pay themselves a low salary topped up with dividends. On top of that, having the company pay employer pension contributions into a SIPP is one of the most tax-efficient ways to take money out, because it saves both Corporation Tax and personal Income Tax.
Why do I need a tax planning accountant instead of just bookkeeping?
Bookkeeping keeps track of what has happened. A tax planning accountant uses those numbers to look ahead: working out what you will owe, how best to pay yourself, and when to time things like equipment purchases, pension contributions, and dividends so you pay less tax overall.
Keep reading
Service
Corporation Tax
Timing reliefs and allowances before the CT600 is prepared.
ServiceManagement Accounts
Regular reporting that keeps your tax position current through the year.
GuideSalary vs Dividends 2026
Calculate your optimal salary-to-dividend split against the reduced £500 dividend allowance.
Check the tax position before you spend.
Book an initial consultation to review your current tax structure and what a management accounting approach would change.
Request a consultation
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CIMA Chartered
MTD for ITSA ready
Fixed Fees
Locations
Sheffield and Mansfield
Chartered tax planners for UK limited companies in South Yorkshire, the East Midlands and across the UK, with the work run through secure cloud records and scheduled calls.