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Certax Accounting - Sandbach

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Certax Accounting - Sandbach

We are a local professional firm of chartered certified accountants that can assist you with your pe

20/07/2026

Quarterly PAYE payments due on the 22nd July

Just a little nudge to remind you that if you are an Employer and need to make quarterly payments of Tax and NI to HMRC, then the deadline for paying quarterly balances is the 22nd July.

Check your online Business Tax Account or notifications from your Accountant for the balance you need to pay.

If you have filed any P11d Benefits in Kind forms, the Class1a NI due on those benefits also needs to be paid to HMRC by the 22nd July.

15/07/2026

Today's post is completely unrelated to accounting... mainly because it's my birthday!

As I'm currently working through a batch of Making Tax Digital submissions to HMRC, I thought I'd give myself a break with a non-work-related fact instead.

Ever wondered who/what you share your birthday with? Mine falls on St Swithin's Day, which, according to folklore, is one of the most weather-important days of the year.

St Swithin (or Swithun) was a 9th-century Anglo-Saxon Bishop of Wi******er who was known for his humility and kindness. He asked to be buried outside so that passersby and rain could fall on his grave, though I'm not entirely sure why the passersby were supposed to be falling unless they'd stopped at the tavern first!
Legend says that when his remains were moved into Wi******er Cathedral in 971, torrential rain followed. From that came the famous saying that whatever the weather is like on 15 July will continue for the next 40 days—rain if it rains today, sunshine if today is fair.

I knew the weather folklore, but I only recently discovered that St Swithin's Day has also appeared in modern culture, including David Nicholls' 2009 novel One Day, Billy Bragg's 1984 song St Swithin's Day, and even a 1994 episode of The Simpsons.

Given the recent heatwave, I think I'd quite like to request 40 days of warm sunshine with the occasional overnight shower—good for the gardens, and much kinder than 40 days of rain!

Happy St Swithin's Day... and happy birthday to anyone else celebrating today!

07/07/2026

Have you got your ducks in a row for your first MTD quarterly update?

The first quarterly reporting deadline under Making Tax Digital is fast approaching, with submissions due by 7 August 2026.

Now is the time to make sure:
✅ Your bookkeeping is up to date
✅ Your MTD software is working
✅ Your quarter-end figures are ready to submit

And while you're at it, have you finished your 2025-26 Self Assessment? Tidying up last year's affairs before tackling this year's reporting can make life much easier.

Don't leave your first MTD submission until the last minute!

29/06/2026

Self-Assessment taxpayers – don't forget your 31 July deadline!

If you're required to make Payments on Account, your next payment to HMRC is due by 31 July 2026.

But what exactly are Payments on Account?
Think of them as the Self-Assessment equivalent of PAYE. Rather than paying tax through your wages each month, you're making advance payments towards your next tax bill every six months.

You will usually need to make Payments on Account if:
✅ Your last Self-Assessment tax bill exceeded £1,000, and
✅ Less than 80% of your tax was collected through PAYE or other deductions at source.

Payments are normally due on:
📌 31 January
📌 31 July

Once your tax return has been completed, any additional tax due (or refund owed) is calculated and settled by the following 31 January.

If you're unsure whether a payment is due, now is a good time to check your HMRC account and avoid any last-minute surprises.

26/06/2026

Think MTD doesn't apply to you yet? It might arrive sooner than you think.

From April 2027, Making Tax Digital is expected to apply to sole traders and landlords with a combined gross income of more than £30,000 pa.

You will be mandated to join MTD in 2027 if your 2025-26 accounts put you over the threshold. Now is a great time to review your figures, complete your 2026 tax return early, and start thinking about how you'll keep digital records.

The sooner you know where you stand, the more time you'll have to get your ducks lined up before you are swept into MTD.

23/06/2026

Summer jobs and holiday work can sometimes mean paying more tax than you need to.

Many students work for different employers during the year – perhaps one job at university and another back home for the summer. Even if your total earnings for the tax year are well below the Personal Allowance, you could still find tax being deducted from your wages.

While HMRC will usually refund any overpaid tax eventually, you may not receive that money until after the end of the tax year unless your tax code is corrected.

A Personal Tax Account can help. By logging in online, you can:
✅ Check your tax codes
✅ See how your Personal Allowance has been allocated
✅ Update your estimated income for the year

In some cases, this can help overpaid tax be refunded through your wages much sooner.

One thing to watch for is a tax code ending in "W1", "M1" or "X". These are known as non-cumulative tax codes, meaning each pay period is treated separately. This can sometimes result in tax being deducted even when your annual earnings are expected to remain below the Personal Allowance.

If you think this applies to you, contact HMRC ASAP and explain your circumstances. If your summer job is temporary and your total earnings for the year will be below the Personal Allowance, HMRC may be able to review and amend your tax code now so that any tax is refunded before your employment ends.

19/06/2026

Why Trivial Benefits are so useful

Trivial Benefits are a fantastic way for businesses to reward employees without creating a tax liability for either the employee or the employer.

These small, non-cash gifts do not need to be reported to HMRC and are free from income tax and National Insurance, provided they meet the following conditions:

• The cost must not exceed £50 (including VAT) per employee per gift.
• The benefit cannot be cash or a cash voucher.
• It must not be provided as a reward for performance or services rendered.
• It must not form part of the employee's contractual entitlement.
• Directors of close companies are subject to an annual limit of £300.
• The business should keep appropriate records of all Trivial Benefits provided.

Common examples include:
• Flowers or a small gift for an employee's birthday
• A bottle of wine and chocolates at Christmas
• Tea, coffee and other refreshments provided in the workplace
• Store-specific gift cards, such as M&S, B&Q or Amazon vouchers

Used correctly, Trivial Benefits can be a simple and tax-efficient way to recognise employees and boost morale, while avoiding unnecessary reporting requirements.

Does your business make full use of the Trivial Benefits exemption, or are you missing an easy opportunity to reward your team tax-efficiently?

16/06/2026

Capital Gains Tax – When a relief causes a headache

I've posted before about the requirement to report and pay Capital Gains Tax on the sale of residential property within 60 days. Despite the rules having been in place for several years, this remains one of the biggest knowledge gaps I see among property owners, but it's not the only one...

I recently spoke to a client who had sold a flat and assumed no CGT was due because it was the only property they owned. Their thinking was that Principal Private Residence (PPR) relief would apply automatically.

The catch? They had never lived in the flat. It had always been a buy-to-let investment, while they lived in a property they rented from someone else.

Owning just one property doesn't automatically qualify it for PPR relief. The property must have been your main residence.

The result? No PPR relief and a last-minute scramble to complete and submit the 60-day CGT return to HMRC before the deadline.

11/06/2026

Director-shareholders: there's an important new disclosure requirement coming to Self-Assessment tax returns from 2025–26.

If you are both a director and shareholder of a close company (generally one with five or fewer shareholders), there are additional reporting requirements on your Self-Assessment tax return for the year ending 5 April 2026.

In previous years, directors would typically:
• Tick a box to declare they were a company officer who received no remuneration if no PAYE salary was paid.
• Complete an Employment page if they received PAYE income from the company.
• Report any dividends received (as a shareholder) in the dividends section of the tax return.

From 2025–26, there is an additional reporting requirement for director-shareholders. You will need to disclose:
• The company name and company registration number.
• The percentage of shares you owned in the year.
• The amount of dividends received during the tax year (even if this is nil).

The key point to note: The information relating to your directorship must be entered on the Employment pages of the Self-Assessment tax return.

As a result, you will need to complete an Employment page for each relevant directorship, even if:
• You receive no PAYE remuneration,
• The company does not have an employer PAYE reference, and/or
• No dividends have been paid during the year,

If you are a director-shareholder and complete your own tax return, make sure you are aware of these new disclosure requirements before filing your 2025–26 return.

09/06/2026

Dividends: Get the basics right!

It's hard when you run your own company to remember that you are wearing different hats depending on the task at hand. Most of the time, you are a director of the company, making sales, managing finances, clients, and possibly staff, but you’re also probably the main or only shareholder of the company, and when you are wearing that hat, you’re going to want to know what post-tax profits are available for possible dividend distribution to you.

All too often, with a lack of clear separation between directors and shareholders, dividends are paid without being thorough with the paperwork, and this can lead to issues later should the company find itself falling on hard times, cash flow-wise or if HMRC begin an investigation.

So always follow the basic steps, no matter how daft it feels, having a board meeting where you’re the only person at the table:

1. Check the company accounts to ensure the company has enough distributable profits after tax and other liabilities – It’s not about how much is in your company bank account! Ask your Accountant if you’re not sure.

2. Hold a directors meeting- Yes, even if there is only one of you! The meeting minutes should show the dividend to be paid to shareholders. It can take just a couple of minutes if there’s nothing else you want to discuss with yourself 😊

3. Prepare a dividend voucher – Just a simple slip of paper to say: £x amount of dividend is due to Mr X, a shareholder of ABC Ltd, on a particular date.

4. Pay the dividend – For directors who are also shareholders, you can put the dividend entry as a journal entry to your Directors' Loan Account to be paid out in stages if you prefer.

Address

9 Vicarage Gardens
Sandbach
CW113BZ

Opening Hours

Monday	9:30am - 5:30pm
Tuesday	9:30am - 5:30pm
Wednesday	9:30am - 5pm
Thursday	9:30am - 5:30pm
Friday	10am - 6pm
Saturday	10am - 6pm

Website

http://www.certaxsandbach.co.uk/

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