CIS Accountants: Common HMRC Compliance Mistakes
Right. Let’s get this out of the way: if you’re a contractor in construction and you think CIS compliance is just about ticking boxes once a month, you’re in for a rude awakening. And probably a penalty notice. Most contractors don’t realise they need specialist CIS accountants until something goes catastrophically wrong. I’ve watched perfectly competent builders—people […]
Business Advice Every Small Business Needs in 2026
Running a small business in 2026 feels a bit like trying to assemble IKEA furniture during an earthquake. Everything’s shifting—regulations, technology, customer expectations—and you’re just trying to keep the bloody screws from rolling under the sofa. But here’s the thing: whilst 84% of UK small businesses are apparently charging into this year with grand growth […]
Best Small Business Accounting Services in the UK 2026
Here’s something nobody tells you when you start a business: the accounting bit will keep you up at night more than any dodgy client or failed pitch ever could. I remember chatting with a mate who runs a small construction firm in Manchester. Brilliant at what he does – can build you a gorgeous extension […]
Complete Guide to IHT400 Form in the UK (Updated 2026)
Right. Let’s talk about the IHT400—that intimidating bundle of pages that lands on executors’ desks when someone dies and there’s inheritance tax to sort out. I’ve watched countless families struggle through this form (sometimes at 2am, surrounded by bank statements and half-empty coffee mugs), and honestly? It doesn’t have to be the nightmare everyone claims it […]
Strategies for reducing inheritance tax on family property in 2026
Last updated: January 2026 | Reading time: 12 minutes Look, I’ll be blunt: the inheritance tax system is designed to catch the unprepared. Frozen thresholds since 2009. Property prices that’ve gone bonkers. A 40% tax rate that bites harder than a Rottweiler with a grudge. And yet… most families stumble into HMRC’s trap because they […]
Small Business Accounting Services Explained 2026
Last updated: January 2026 | 12-minute read Here’s something nobody tells you when you register your first business: that euphoric moment when you make your first sale? It’s immediately followed by the cold realisation that someone, somewhere, expects you to account for it. Not in the vague “I made some money” sense. In the “HMRC wants quarterly […]
VAT Accounting Rules Every Business Must Follow
Here’s something nobody tells you when you first register for VAT: the rules aren’t actually that complicated. What is complicated is the sheer volume of them, the bizarre exceptions, and—let’s be honest—the fact that HMRC seems to change something every other month. I’ve watched businesses get slapped with penalties not because they were trying to dodge their […]
How to Maximise Your Inheritance Tax Allowance in 2026
Here’s something nobody tells you at dinner parties (because who discusses tax at dinner parties?): roughly 96% of UK estates won’t pay a penny in inheritance tax. Yet the 4% who do fork out an average of £180,000 to HMRC. That’s not pocket change—that’s someone’s house deposit, a comfortable retirement nest egg, or your kids’ […]
Inheritance Tax Rules Explained Simply 2026
Published: January 2026 | Reading time: 12 minutes Here’s something nobody tells you at dinner parties: inheritance tax rules in the UK are simultaneously straightforward and maddeningly complex. The basic premise? Dead simple. Your estate gets taxed at 40% on everything above £325,000. But then the government added residence nil-rate bands, seven-year rules, taper relief, […]
