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Chapelton Financial

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Chapelton Financial

Professional accountancy and tax services for businesses and individuals across Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire and Edinburgh.

05/07/2026

SPOTLIGHT ON: Associated company rules: Protecting your corporation tax thresholds

Running more than one limited company is common for many owner-managers. You might have a trading company alongside a property company, a separate company for a different service line, a holding company above the group, or an old company kept for a brand name.

Each company may have made sense when it was set up. The issue is what happens when the corporation tax rules look at those companies together.

Since 1 April 2023, the UK has used a tiered corporation tax system. The thresholds that decide whether a company pays the 19% small profits rate, the 25% main rate, or a rate (due to marginal relief) between the two can be divided between associated companies. The more associated companies there are, the lower each company’s thresholds become.

This guide explains how the rules apply to accounting periods falling within the corporation tax financial year starting 1 April 2026, who counts as an associated company, and the practical steps that can help protect your position.

20/06/2026

SPOTLIGHT ON:
Director’s loans: How to stay clear of unwanted tax charges

Many business owners withdraw funds from their companies beyond salary and dividends at some point. It could cover a short-term personal cost, help with a property deposit, or bridge the gap between dividend declarations.

That flexibility can be useful, but director’s loan accounts come with tax rules that are easy to underestimate. If the balance is not managed properly, the company may face a section 455 tax charge, the director may have a taxable benefit, and HMRC may challenge repayments that appear to be short-term fixes.

The rules matter even more in 2026/27 because the section 455 rate has increased for new loans made from 6 April 2026.

This guide explains how director’s loan accounts work, when tax charges arise, and what practical steps can help keep the position under control.

19/06/2026

Are you paying too much for your accountant?

It's a question we're asked surprisingly often.

The reality is that the cheapest accountant isn't always the best value, and the most expensive isn't always delivering the service you need.

In this short video, I explain a few things to consider when assessing whether you're getting value from your current accountant.

If you'd like a no-obligation chat about your business, feel free to get in touch.

📞 01224 600097

🌐 Book a Consultation: https://www.chapelton.co.uk/book-a-consultation

06/06/2026

SPOTLIGHT ON:
Working abroad: Getting your UK tax residence right

Spending time abroad for work has become much more common. You might be moving for a posting, taking a permanent role overseas, working remotely from another country, or returning to the UK after several years away.

What often surprises people is how far UK tax can follow them. Leaving the country does not automatically make you a non-UK resident, and becoming a non-resident does not always remove you from the UK tax system completely.

This guide explains how UK tax residence works in 2026/27, what can still be taxable in the UK when you live abroad, and the planning points to consider before you leave, while you are overseas, or before you return.

23/05/2026

SPOTLIGHT ON: How SMEs can get ready for e-invoicing

E-invoicing has moved from a back-office improvement to a planning issue for UK businesses. The government has said that all VAT invoices will need to be issued as e-invoices from April 2029. In practice, that mainly affects business-to-business and business-to-government VAT invoices, rather than ordinary business-to-consumer sales. The detailed UK roadmap and standards are still being developed, which means there is time to prepare, but it also means businesses should start with the basics rather than wait for the final rulebook.

For many SMEs, the sensible response is not to rush into a full system change. It is to get the foundations right now: invoice data, VAT treatment, software capability, customer and supplier records, approval steps, and payment controls. A business that tidies those areas early will be in a much stronger position when the UK regime is finalised.

That matters because e-invoicing is often misunderstood. In HMRC research published in March 2026, 59% of VAT-registered SMEs said they were familiar with e-invoicing, but only 29% said they actually used it. The same research found that the most common invoicing method was still PDF or email, followed by paper or physical mail. That gap matters because sending a PDF by email is not the same as structured e-invoicing.

09/05/2026

SPOTLIGHT ON: Giving to charity: Tax reliefs you can use

Giving to charity is often driven by values rather than tax planning, but the tax treatment still matters. Used properly, the available reliefs can make a donation go further, lower your tax bill, or both. HMRC’s latest charity tax relief statistics show that tax reliefs for charities and donors were worth about £6.7 billion in the year to April 2025, including £1.7 billion of Gift Aid paid to charities.

For individuals, the main UK reliefs sit in four areas: Gift Aid, Payroll Giving, gifts of shares or property, and gifts left in a will. Each works differently. In some cases, the charity gets the tax benefit. In others, you claim it yourself. The right route depends on what you are giving, how often you give, and your tax position in the 2026/27 tax year.

25/04/2026

SPOTLIGHT ON: Pension allowances

Pensions remain one of the most tax-efficient ways to save for the long term. They can help reduce taxable income, support business owners' extraction planning, and build retirement wealth in a structured way. Problems usually arise when contributions are made without first checking the rules. That is when an otherwise sensible pension contribution can trigger an unexpected tax charge.

The good news is that most surprise tax bills come from a relatively short list of issues. The main ones are the annual allowance, the tapered annual allowance for higher earners, the money purchase annual allowance after flexibly accessing benefits, and missed carry-forward checks. For the 2025/26 tax year, the standard pension annual allowance is £60,000, but it can be as low as £10,000 in some cases.

This guide sets out the main allowance checks to make, where tax charges tend to arise, and how to build a simple review process before contributions are paid.

04/04/2026

SPOTLIGHT ON: MTD for income tax: Your April 2026 checklist

Making Tax Digital for income tax (MTD IT) starts from 6 April 2026 for sole traders and landlords with qualifying income over £50,000. For many businesses and property owners, the change is less about extra tax and more about changing how records are kept and how income is reported to HMRC through the year. HMRC says those in scope will need to keep digital records, send quarterly updates through compatible software, and then complete a year-end process through that software. HMRC has also confirmed that this rollout will widen in later phases, to qualifying income over £30,000 from 6 April 2027 and over £20,000 from 6 April 2028.

The main risk is leaving preparation too late. Businesses that already keep clean digital records and reconcile income regularly are likely to find the transition manageable. Those still relying on paper files, spreadsheets with manual rekeying or a year-end tidy-up may find April 2026 more disruptive than expected. This guide sets out who needs to act now, what the new process looks like, and the practical checks worth making before the start date.

Address

Chapelton House
Ellon
AB416PX

Opening Hours

Monday	7am - 9pm
Tuesday	7am - 9pm
Wednesday	7am - 9pm
Thursday	7am - 9pm
Friday	7am - 9pm
Saturday	9am - 7pm
Sunday	9am - 7pm

Website

https://chapelton.co.uk/, https://www.chapelton.co.uk/services/, https://www.chapelton.co.uk/about-us/

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