Corporate Tax Planning

Chartered Accountants for Corporate Tax Planning

Our corporate tax planning accountants specialise in helping businesses navigate the complex world of taxation. They work to ensure your company pays the correct amount of tax while identifying legitimate ways to reduce your tax liability, which is crucial for any business owner looking to achieve financial goals.

Our professionals stay current with ever-changing tax laws and regulations. They understand how to structure your business affairs in the most tax-efficient manner possible.

Our Corporate Tax Planning Services

We provide comprehensive tax planning services to help you navigate the complex UK tax system efficiently. Our business tax planning services are designed to help you make informed decisions about investments and maximise tax allowances. Our team stays updated with the latest tax legislation to ensure your business remains compliant while maximising available tax benefits. Our corporate tax planning services include:

• Preparation of tax computations and returns

• Identifying allowable business expenses

• Advising on capital allowances

• Structuring business transactions to minimise tax

• Planning for dividend payments

• Guidance on VAT and PAYE matters

Our corporate tax accountants differ from general accountants due to their specialised knowledge of corporation tax rules. They can spot opportunities you might miss, potentially saving your business thousands of pounds annually.

We work proactively rather than reactively. We don’t just complete your year-end returns but help develop ongoing strategies that align with your business goals.

Related services

Strategies for Corporate Tax Optimisation

Our approach to tax optimisation begins with a thorough review of your business structure. We examine whether your current setup—be it a limited company, partnership, or sole trader—is the most tax-efficient for your circumstances.

We help you time income recognition and expense claims strategically to minimise your tax liability. This might involve bringing forward expenses or delaying income recognition when appropriate under HMRC guidelines to ensure income is taxed at the most favorable rates.

Dividend planning is another crucial area we address. We’ll advise on the optimal balance between salary and dividends to reduce your overall tax burden whilst ensuring you meet personal financial needs.

For groups of companies, we implement group relief strategies to offset profits in one company against losses in another, creating significant tax savings opportunities.

Utilising Tax Reliefs

Research and Development (R&D) tax relief can provide substantial benefits if your company invests in innovation. Tax credits play an essential role in reducing your tax liabilities, and we can help you identify and claim these valuable incentives. We’ll help identify qualifying activities and prepare robust claims to secure this valuable relief.

Capital Allowances enable tax deductions for business assets. Our specialists thoroughly analyse your capital expenditure to maximise claims for items such as:

• Plant and machinery

• Energy-efficient equipment

• Electric vehicle charging points

Patent Box relief offers reduced corporation tax rates on profits derived from patented inventions. We’ll assess your eligibility and guide you through the application process.

The Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) and Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) offer significant tax incentives for investors in qualifying companies. We’ll help structure investments to maximise these benefits.

Tax Planning for Investments

When your business makes investments, proper tax planning is essential. Accurate financial statements are essential for reflecting your business’s financial health and ensuring compliance with accounting standards. We provide guidance on the tax implications of different investment vehicles, helping you select options that align with your overall strategy.

For property investments, we’ll advise on the most tax-efficient ownership structures. This includes considerations around Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) and potential capital gains implications.

If you’re expanding internationally, we’ll help navigate the complexities of overseas investments. This includes addressing double taxation issues through careful planning and utilising relevant tax treaties.

We also provide advice on tax-efficient exit strategies for investments, ensuring you maximise returns when divesting assets.

Profit and Loss Management

Effective profit and loss management is central to minimising your corporation tax liability and understanding your taxable profits. We’ll help you implement legitimate strategies to smooth profits across accounting periods, reducing tax spikes.

Timing of expenditure is crucial. We advise on when to make significant purchases or investments to optimise tax relief based on your company’s financial year and projected profits.

Loss relief planning enables you to use trading losses effectively. Options include:

• Carrying losses back to previous years

• Offsetting against current year profits

• Carrying forward against future profits

We’ll also help you manage remuneration strategies for directors and key employees to balance personal and corporate tax efficiency.

Corporate Tax Rates and Allowances

Understanding current corporate tax rates is essential for effective planning. Understanding how and when to pay corporation tax based on your corporate profits is crucial for effective tax planning.

The Annual Investment Allowance (AIA) provides 100% tax relief on qualifying expenditure up to £1 million. We’ll help you time purchases to maximise this valuable allowance.

Tax-free allowances like the Employment Allowance can reduce your National Insurance contributions. We’ll ensure you claim all available allowances to reduce your overall tax burden.

Compliance and Reporting Obligations Under Tax Law

Meeting HMRC deadlines is critical to avoid penalties. Staying informed about changes in tax law is essential to ensure your business remains compliant and can adapt to new regulations. We manage your corporate tax compliance calendar, ensuring tax returns are filed accurately and on time.

We prepare comprehensive corporation tax computations that stand up to HMRC scrutiny. Our detailed approach minimises the risk of enquiries while ensuring you don’t overpay tax.

Staying ahead of tax legislation changes is part of our service. We provide regular updates on relevant changes that might impact your business, allowing for proactive planning.

For larger companies, we help with Senior Accounting Officer (SAO) compliance, ensuring your tax accounting arrangements meet HMRC requirements and avoiding potential personal penalties for directors.

Risks of Tax Non-Compliance

When your business fails to properly comply with tax regulations, you face significant risks. Failing to pay tax on time can result in significant penalties and interest charges from HMRC. These risks go beyond simple penalties and can affect your company’s long-term success.

Financial Penalties and Interest Charges

• Immediate financial costs from HMRC fines

• Accumulating interest on unpaid tax amounts

• Potential for retrospective assessments going back several years

Tax non-compliance often stems from insufficient resources, technical skills gaps, system changes, or data integrity issues. Even unintentional errors account for about 10% of the tax gap according to government figures.

Reputational Damage: Tax avoidance or evasion can seriously harm your company’s public image. Your business may be labelled as greedy or selfish, destroying public trust and affecting customer relationships.

Legal Consequences: The Criminal Finances Act makes organisations liable if they fail to prevent tax evasion. Your company could face prosecution if you don’t have reasonable prevention procedures in place.

Operational Disruption: HMRC investigations can divert valuable time and resources from your core business activities. You may need to assign staff to handle enquiries or engage expensive tax specialists.

Loss of Tax Reliefs: Non-compliance might disqualify you from beneficial tax reliefs that could otherwise reduce your tax burden legitimately.

Internal audit can help minimise these risks. A robust tax control framework helps identify compliance issues before they become problems, ensuring you maintain proper tax practices while optimising your tax position legally.

Managing VAT and Other Indirect Taxes

VAT and indirect taxes can significantly impact your company’s cash flow. Many businesses are required to pay payroll taxes on a quarterly basis, and careful planning can help maximise potential tax benefits and deductions. These taxes require careful management as they change frequently and affect many business transactions.

What are indirect taxes?

Unlike direct taxes on profits, indirect taxes are collected from customers and passed to tax authorities. VAT is the most common type in the UK, but there are others like customs duties and excise taxes.

Proper VAT management offers several benefits:

• Improved cash flow

• Reduced compliance risks

• Minimised tax liabilities

• Fewer penalties from HMRC

Key strategies for effective VAT management:

Stay informed – Tax regulations change frequently. Assign responsibility to team members for tracking updates.

VAT automation – Use digital tools to reduce manual errors and ensure timely submissions.

Regular reviews – Conduct VAT health checks to identify optimisation opportunities.

Many businesses fail to claim all eligible VAT recoveries. Review your processes to ensure you’re not overpaying. High-value and fast-paced decisions often require specialist knowledge.

Remember that VAT optimisation isn’t about aggressive avoidance but ensuring you’re not paying more than legally required. This approach improves your cash position whilst maintaining compliance.

Tax Relief and Support Measures

There are several tax relief options that can significantly reduce your corporation tax liability. For tax purposes, a company classified as UK resident is liable for Corporation Tax on all profits, making it essential to understand your residency status. These measures are designed to encourage business growth, innovation, and investment in specific sectors.

Research and Development Reliefs

R&D tax relief offers substantial benefits for companies engaged in innovative projects. Companies with UK offices can benefit significantly from R&D tax reliefs, encouraging innovation and growth. If your business is developing new products, processes, or services, you may qualify for this valuable relief.

Qualifying costs typically include:

• Staff costs

• Subcontractor expenses

• Materials used in the R&D process

• Certain software costs

To claim these reliefs, you must demonstrate how your project sought to advance science or technology through resolving scientific or technological uncertainties.

Relief for Property Rental Income

If your company receives income from property rentals, several tax reliefs are available to reduce your liability.

Allowable expenses that can be deducted from your rental income include:

• Mortgage interest costs (though restrictions apply)

• Property repairs and maintenance

• Insurance premiums

• Management fees

• Utility bills you pay on behalf of tenants

Capital allowances can be claimed on certain items within commercial properties, such as lifts, air conditioning systems, and integral features. These allowances let you deduct the value of these assets from your profits before tax.

For residential property, while you cannot claim capital allowances on the buildings themselves, you can claim for items used in the property business, such as computers or office equipment.

Remember to keep detailed records of all expenses to support your claims for tax purposes when filing your corporation tax return.

Talk to Us About Corporate Tax Planning

Talk to our experienced team about smarter corporate tax planning. We’ll help you reduce your tax burden, stay compliant and make confident decisions for the future of your business. Whether you’re growing, restructuring or preparing for sale, we’re here to support you.

Get in touch to start your tax planning today.