JAC Accountancy Solutions Limited

11/08/2026

🏢 Thinking about setting up a limited company?

Registration costs £100 and takes around 24 hours. But that's the easy bit — here's what most people don't know about what comes next.

The basics:
✅ Company name (must be unique at Companies House, end in "Ltd" or "Limited")
✅ Registered office address (UK physical address — doesn't have to be where you work)
✅ At least one director — who must now verify their identity before the company can be registered
✅ Share structure — for most single-director companies, 100 shares at £1 each is the standard starting point

What needs to happen AFTER incorporation (in this order):
1️⃣ Open a company bank account immediately
2️⃣ Register for Corporation Tax within 3 months of trading — this is one of the most commonly missed deadlines, with penalties if you miss it
3️⃣ Set up PAYE if you're paying yourself a salary
4️⃣ Consider VAT registration — compulsory above £90,000 turnover, sometimes worth doing earlier
5️⃣ Set up bookkeeping from day one (we recommend Xero)
6️⃣ Plan your salary and dividend strategy — getting this right could save you £1,500+ per year

Annual obligations once you're up and running:
📋 Confirmation Statement — £50/year, due annually
📋 Annual accounts — 9 months after your year end
📋 Corporation Tax return — 12 months after your year end
📋 Self-assessment tax return — 31 January each year

And one thing worth checking before you incorporate: make sure the tax saving actually outweighs the extra accountancy cost. For most people at £50,000+ profits it clearly does — below £30-40k it often doesn't.

We've written a full step-by-step guide with everything you need to know — link below.

If you're thinking about setting up a company in Macclesfield or Cheshire and want to talk it through first, get in touch for a free 30-minute call.

📞 07485 179 655
🌐 www.jacaccountancysolutions.com
📅 Book: app.usemotion.com/meet/jacaccountancy/booking

30/06/2026

🪪 Company directors and shareholders — have you verified your identity with Companies House yet?

Since 18 November 2025, identity verification has been a legal requirement for all UK company directors and Persons with Significant Control (PSCs). An estimated 6-7 million people need to comply.

Here's what you need to know:

📅 New directors/PSCs (from 18 Nov 2025): must verify BEFORE appointment
📅 Existing directors: must verify before your company's NEXT confirmation statement
📅 Existing PSCs: deadline tied to your birth month
📅 Absolute backstop for everyone: 18 November 2026

⚠️ The critical bit: if even ONE director in your company hasn't verified, your confirmation statement CANNOT be filed. Full stop.

💷 Penalties for non-compliance:
→ Civil penalties up to £10,000
→ Cannot file company documents
→ Cannot take up new director/PSC roles
→ Possible criminal prosecution in serious cases

✅ The good news: verification is free and takes 10-20 minutes via GOV.UK One Login if you have a passport or driving licence.

Multiple directorships? You only verify once — but your real deadline is the EARLIEST confirmation statement date across all your companies.

We're helping clients across Macclesfield and Bollington understand their deadlines and get verified before the rush. Full guide — link below.

📞 07485 179 655
🌐 www.jacaccountancysolutions.com
📅 Book a free call: app.usemotion.com/meet/jacaccountancy/booking

17/06/2026

🤔 Sole trader or limited company — which is right for your business in 2026?

This is one of the most common questions we get asked, and this year the answer has actually changed.

Dividend tax rates rose on 6 April 2026 — narrowing the tax advantage that limited companies used to have. The decision is no longer the automatic "go limited" it once was.

Here's a rough guide based on 2026/27 figures:

📊 Under £40,000 profit → Sole trader is usually simpler, with similar overall tax
📊 £40,000–£60,000 profit → A genuinely close call — depends on your numbers
📊 Over £60,000 profit → Limited company typically saves £1,500–£6,000+/year

But tax isn't the only factor:

🛡️ Limited liability — a limited company protects your personal assets from business debts. As a sole trader, you and the business are legally the same — your personal assets are at risk.

📋 Admin — limited companies file annual accounts, a corporation tax return and a confirmation statement. More work, and usually £500–£2,000 more in accountancy fees per year.

💼 Credibility — a limited company can look more established to clients, lenders and suppliers.

🧾 Making Tax Digital — from April 2026, sole traders earning over £50,000 face new digital record-keeping and quarterly reporting requirements, adding admin to the sole trader route too.

There's no universal right answer — it depends on your profit, how much you need to withdraw, your appetite for admin, and how much liability protection matters for your type of work.

We've written a full breakdown with the 2026 numbers — link below.

If you'd like us to run your actual figures and give you a clear recommendation, get in touch.

📞 07485 179 655
🌐 www.jacaccountancysolutions.com
📅 Book a free call: app.usemotion.com/meet/jacaccountancy/booking

07/06/2026

💷 Are you paying yourself from your limited company in the most tax-efficient way?

For 2026/27, the optimal director salary is £12,570 — the same as the Personal Allowance. Here's why it matters:

✅ At £12,570, you pay no income tax and no employee NI on your salary
✅ The company gets Corporation Tax relief on the full salary amount
✅ That relief (£2,388 at 19% CT, or £3,143 at 25%) outweighs the employer NI cost of £1,135
✅ Net saving over a £5,000 salary: up to £1,800 per director per year

Then top up with dividends:
📊 First £500 of dividends is tax-free (dividend allowance)
📊 Dividends within the basic rate band taxed at just 10.75%
📊 No NI on dividends — for either you or the company

💡 Husband and wife company? Even better. If you both qualify for the Employment Allowance (£10,500), the employer NI cost disappears entirely. Combined saving for a husband-and-wife company can exceed £3,700 in a single tax year.

Key 2026/27 figures:
→ Personal Allowance: £12,570
→ Employer NI threshold: £5,000 (rate: 15%)
→ Employee NI threshold: £12,570 (rate: 8%)
→ Dividend allowance: £500
→ Basic rate dividend tax: 10.75%
→ Employment Allowance: £10,500

⚠️ This isn't one-size-fits-all. If you have other employment income, if your total income exceeds £100,000, or if you're approaching pension age, a different strategy may be more efficient. We look at this individually for every director client we work with.

We've written a full guide with the 2026/27 numbers — link below.

📞 07485 179 655
🌐 www.jacaccountancysolutions.com
📅 Book a free call: app.usemotion.com/meet/jacaccountancy/booking

#2026

31/05/2026

📋 Important update for limited company directors in Macclesfield and Cheshire...

HMRC has introduced new mandatory disclosure requirements for directors of close companies on their 2025/26 self-assessment tax return.

If you're a director and shareholder of your own limited company, you now need to include all of the following on your return:

✅ Whether you are a director of a close company (now compulsory — it was optional before)
✅ The full name and Companies House registration number of each close company
✅ The value of dividends you received from the close company — reported separately from your other dividend income
✅ Your percentage shareholding in the company during the year

These changes apply to the 2025/26 tax year (the year ended 5 April 2026). Filing opens now, with the 31 January 2027 deadline.

What is a close company? Almost certainly yours — it's any UK limited company controlled by five or fewer shareholders, or by its directors. The vast majority of owner-managed limited companies qualify.

Why is HMRC doing this? Greater transparency and data matching — HMRC will be able to cross-reference your personal return against your company's corporation tax return. Errors or inconsistencies could trigger a compliance check.

The rules are clear but some of the detail — particularly around different share classes — still awaits further HMRC guidance. We're monitoring this closely and will keep you updated.

📖 We've written a full guide on exactly what's required and how to prepare — link below.

If you'd like us to handle your 2025/26 self-assessment return, including all the new close company disclosures, get in touch for a free 30-minute conversation.

📞 07485 179 655
🌐 www.jacaccountancysolutions.com
📅 Book a free call: app.usemotion.com/meet/jacaccountancy/booking

27/05/2026

⚠️ Making Tax Digital is now live — are you affected?

From April 2026, sole traders and landlords with income over £50,000 must keep digital records and submit quarterly updates to HMRC.

Here's what that means in plain English:
✅ Digital bookkeeping using software like Xero
✅ 4 quarterly updates per year (instead of one annual return)
✅ A Final Declaration by 31 January each year

Not sure if this applies to you? The threshold is based on your gross income from self-employment or property in 2024/25 — not your profit.

We're helping clients across Macclesfield and Bollington get MTD-ready. Book a free 30-minute call to talk it through 👇

🔗 www.jacaccountancysolutions.com

Independent accountants serving Bollington, Macclesfield and Cheshire. Personal tax returns, company accounts, bookkeeping and payroll. Speak directly to Jeff or Rhian — never a call centre.