A company does not have to be formally closed to become dormant for Corporation Tax. A company is usually considered dormant if it has stopped trading and has no other income, such as investment income. A new limited company that has not yet started trading can also be dormant for Corporation Tax.

Self-employed people can deduct allowable business expenses when calculating their taxable profits. However, where a cost has both a business and private element, only the business proportion can normally be claimed. For example, if a mobile phone bill is £200 for the year, with £70 relating to

Making a trading loss whilst not ideal can sometimes generate a tax refund. If you are a self-employed individual or a member of a trading partnerships, a trading loss can potentially be set against other income or capital gains. This can reduce the amount of tax payable and, where tax has already

Employers must make sure their staff receive at least the National Minimum Wage or National Living Wage rate that applies to them. The correct rate depends on the worker's age and, in some cases, whether they are an apprentice. Since 1 April 2026, workers aged 21 and over are entitled to the

Self-employed people can choose to use simplified expenses to calculate certain business costs using flat rates rather than working out their actual expenses. The system can save time and make record keeping easier, but it will not necessarily produce the best tax position. It is therefore worth

The rate of Corporation Tax payable depends mainly on the level of a company’s taxable profits. The main rate is 25% and applies where profits exceed £250,000. Companies with profits of £50,000 or less generally pay Corporation Tax at the small profits rate of 19%. But note, these two thresholds

The Government has named nearly 660 employers for failing to pay workers the National Minimum Wage, highlighting how costly National Minimum Wage compliance failures can become. The latest naming round, published on 3 September 2026, involved around £4 million being repaid to more than 27,000

The Government has announced plans to consider major changes to the rules governing when companies can make distributions to shareholder. As part of a wider corporate reporting overhaul announced on 6 September 2026, the Government is considering replacing the existing rules on distributable

The tax rules concerning what constitutes a distribution for tax purposes have remained largely unchanged since Corporation Tax was introduced in 1965. HMRC has recently published a consultation looking at possible changes to bring the rules more closely into line with modern commercial