UK Tax, VAT MTD & Payroll Compliance Services

Making Tax Digital (MTD) is HMRC's programme requiring businesses to keep digital records and submit tax returns via compatible software. MTD for VAT has applied to all VAT-registered businesses since April 2022 — there are no turnover exemptions. For Corporation Tax, GOV.UK shows only a consultation on the possible design (closed in 2021) and no start date, so no digital-filing mandate for Corporation Tax applies. For VAT, each late return earns a penalty point and a £200 penalty applies once you reach the threshold (5 points for monthly, 4 for quarterly, 2 for annual returns). We set compliance up turnkey.

A UK company must register for VAT when its taxable turnover exceeds £90,000 in any 12-month rolling period (2024 threshold, up from £85,000). The threshold applies to UK-established companies: a UK Ltd run from abroad with no UK establishment (a NETP) has no threshold and registers from its first UK taxable supply. Voluntary registration is permitted below this threshold and can be advantageous for B2B businesses reclaiming input VAT. Once registered, the company charges 20% standard-rate VAT on most UK supplies, files quarterly MTD returns, and must comply with digital record-keeping rules.

The main Corporation Tax rate is 25% on profits over £250,000 (since April 2023). The small profits rate is 19% for profits up to £50,000, with marginal relief applying between the two thresholds. Corporation Tax is payable 9 months and one day after the accounting period end. Large companies (profits over £1.5m) pay by quarterly instalments. The CT600 return must be filed within 12 months of the year-end.

UK company directors who are employees drawing a salary are subject to PAYE income tax and National Insurance contributions. Directors with personal investments or self-employment income must also file a Self-Assessment tax return (SA100) by 31 January each year. A loan from the company to a director that exceeds £10,000 at any time in the tax year is a benefit in kind reportable on a P11D form. Separately, any loan from a close company to a participator that is still outstanding nine months after the end of the accounting period attracts a Section 455 charge on the company, at the dividend upper rate in force for the tax year of the loan, applied to the outstanding amount: 35.75% for loans made in 2026/27, 33.75% for loans made from 6 April 2022 to 5 April 2026, 32.5% before that, with no £10,000 floor. We model the remuneration structure up front.

UK companies conducting qualifying R&D can claim relief under either the merged RDEC scheme (20% above-the-line tax credit from April 2024) or the Enhanced R&D Intensive Support (ERIS) scheme for loss-making R&D-intensive SMEs (27% payable credit). Claims are made via the CT600 return. Activities must resolve a scientific or technological uncertainty; routine software development does not qualify automatically but bespoke technical problem-solving often does.