When should I start tax planning?
Before your tax year ends. For most people that’s before 5 April each year. For companies, before your accounting year end. Contact us 2–3 months before your year end and we’ll review your position.
Is tax planning legal?
Yes — legitimate tax planning uses reliefs and allowances that Parliament has specifically created. It’s entirely different from tax evasion or aggressive avoidance schemes, which we don’t do.
How much can tax planning save me?
It varies significantly. For a company director, proper salary and dividend planning often saves thousands per year. For a property investor, the right ownership structure can make a material difference. We model the numbers with you.
Do you offer tax planning as a standalone service?
Yes, though most clients find it works best alongside their annual accounts or self assessment — we can see the full picture and plan accordingly.
Is it better to extract profit as salary, dividends, or pension contributions?
For most director-shareholders a mix works best: a small salary (often set at a level that still counts for state pension without triggering much tax or employer National Insurance), dividends for the rest, and employer pension contributions where there's room, since those go in before any personal tax at all. The right mix depends on your personal income from other sources and how much you need to draw out now versus later — we model it against your actual numbers rather than a one-size answer.
What tax planning should I do before the end of the tax year?
Review whether you've used your ISA and pension allowances, whether dividends can be timed to use this year's allowance before it resets, and whether any capital gains are better realised before or after 5 April depending on your other income that year. Most of the useful planning has a deadline attached to it, which is why leaving it until your return is due is usually too late to do anything about it.
Can I reduce my tax bill by splitting income with my spouse or partner?
In some situations, yes — for example transferring an income-producing asset into joint names, or into your partner's name if they're a lower or non-taxpayer, can genuinely reduce the household's overall tax bill. It has to reflect a real change in ownership, not just a paper exercise, so we talk through what's actually being transferred before recommending it.
