Morris Accountancy Services

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Morris Accountancy Services

Contact information, map and directions, contact form, opening hours, services, ratings, photos, videos and announcements from Morris Accountancy Services, Accountant, Stockport.

20/07/2026

Are you a client of mine? If so, I'd be so grateful if you could provide me with a review or testimonial for me to use on my social media and website.

You can do this in one of these simple ways:

💬Easiest way: simply comment on this post!
💬Send me an email via the Contact Me link in my bio
💬Post a review on my Google My Business page via the Leave Me a Review option link in my bio.
💬Post a review on my Facebook or LinkedIn pages; links in bio.

Thank you so much!

15/07/2026

Research conducted by Sage has found that 7 in 10 sole traders don't understand the new Making Tax Digital rules, and only 37% know the first submission deadline is on 7th August.

Are you one of them? Obviously not if you're a client of mine, because I'll be filing for you, but if you're submitting yourself, make sure you've checked the requirements and registered with HMRC. There is a checker on the gov.uk website so you can see whether you need to start MTD this time (it's for those with an income of over £50k).

Once this submission deadline is done, I'm going to be doing some posts where I'll review the process and give tips for those who will be in the next tranche of MTD for income tax next year.

If you've started the process, how are you finding it so far?

10/07/2026

Are you ready for the summer holidays or are you frantically trying to get everything done before the kids are off?

Do you have a business that is very quiet in the summer or the opposite?

A lot of accountants will have to work more than they're maybe used to in the summer holidays this year, because we have the first Making Tax Digital submission due on 7th August! If they'd have asked a parent of school-age children, they might have advised them to choose a different date 🤣

If you're filing your first MTD submission in August, just so you know, you can file anytime now, so you could actually get it done before the summer holidays.

I'd love to hear your summer holiday preparations in the comments! Are you super organised and all ready, or stressed all the way up to the finish line?

06/07/2026

If your self-assessment tax bill is over £1,000, you will need to make a payment on account by 31st July.

What is payment on account?

Payments on account are advance payments towards your tax bill, made twice a year by Self-Assessment taxpayers to spread the cost of the upcoming year’s tax.

Each payment is half your previous year’s tax bill (Tax and Class 4 NI). HMRC is making a prediction about your future income based on your past income.

Payments are due by 31 January and 31 July each year.

This means the first payment is due on the same day as your previous year's tax is due, so it’s important you have enough money set aside, especially if you are doing your return close to the deadline.

The first year you enter into payment on account you effectively pay 150% of your tax bill, which catches a lot of newly self-employed people out with a bill that’s a lot higher than expected.

Employed people are taxed at source through PAYE; HMRC has designed payment on account to help the self-employed stay on top of their payments.

If after making the 2 payments on account you still have tax to pay, you have to make a ‘balancing payment’ by 31 January.

Example
Your bill for 2025/2026 is £3,000. You made 2 payments on account last year of £900 each (£1,800 in total).
The total tax to pay by 31 January 2026 would have been £2,700. This includes:
your ‘balancing payment’ of £1,200 for 2024/2025 (£3,000 minus £1,800)
the first payment on account of £1,500 (half of 2024/2025 bill) towards your 2025/2026 tax bill

You then make a second payment on account of £1,500 on 31 July 2026.

If your tax bill for the 2025 to 2026 tax year is more than £3,000 (the total of your 2 payments on account), you’ll need to make a ‘balancing payment’ by 31 January 2027.

To read more on this, including exemptions to payment on account, how to reduce your payments on account and how to pay, see my full blog post via my website.

29/06/2026

HMRC this year brought in long-needed stronger powers to sanction rogue tax advisers. But I still hear of people being given advice by their accountant which has seemed pretty questionable to me and has really made me wonder whether those calling themselves accountants are always in fact what they claim 🤔.

It is definitely a good idea to check whether your accountant is fully qualified.

I am ACCA-qualified and have an ACCA practicing license. ACCA stands for Association of Chartered Certified Accountants. I studied for 7 years, passed 13 exams and then qualified by experience.

Have you checked if your accountant is qualified to practise?

26/06/2026

Thank you so much to for this lovely testimonial. It's so lovely to hear the impact you have on someone's business. It's a pleasure working with you!

19/06/2026

Here is your regular little nudge to think about opening a separate business bank account if you don’t already have one!

If you have a limited company, you are legally required to have a separate business bank account.

But if you are a sole trader, freelancer or contractor not operating through a limited company, you’re not legally required to open a business account. I would, however, advise having a separate business account, especially if you’re already or soon to be complying with Making Tax Digital.

Under the MTD rules, there is no specific requirement for sole traders to have a separate bank account, however given that you will need to use compatible accounting software to submit quarterly returns, it makes sense to have a separate bank account which links into that software. It will make your life (and your accountant’s!) so much easier because you’ll know that the transactions in that account all relate to your business.

For other reasons to set up a separate business bank account, not related to MTD, read my blog post from May 2023 via the link in my bio.

If you don’t yet have either software or a business bank account, I’d recommend Mettle, as you get free FreeAgent access with a business account. I also personally rate Starling but check out Money Supermarket to see which account would suit your business needs.

15/06/2026

As we're coming up to the summer holidays, don't forget that you can use HMRC's Tax-Free Childcare scheme to help pay for childcare during school holidays, not just regular everyday childcare.

If you use holiday clubs, childminders or sports activities which are accredited by HMRC, you may be able to pay for them tax-free.

For every £8 deposited into a Tax-Free Childcare account, families receive an additional £2 from the government, capped at £500 every 3 months, or £1,000 if the child is disabled. This scheme is available for children aged up to 11, or 16 if the child has a disability.

Parents and carers can check more on the eligibility criteria and register for Tax-Free Childcare on the gov.uk website.

You can apply for an account at any time and start using it straight away.

Childcare providers can sign up for an account to be accredited on gov.uk to be able to receive payments from parents and carers via the scheme.

09/06/2026

We had a lovely lazy holiday in Kos. I had to do a little bit of work, but other than that I really switched off... I read 3 books!

I was happy to chill as it was really needed. The girls just wanted to go in our swim up pool every day!

Did you go away over half term?

02/06/2026

Tax-free mileage rates have been increased for the first time since 2011, from 45p to 55p.

The Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, announced this change last week and the rate will be backdated to the start of the 26/27 tax year, 6th April.

So what does this mean? If you use your own vehicle or vehicles for work, you may be able to claim tax relief on the approved mileage rate. This covers the cost of owning and running your vehicle. You can't claim separately for things like fuel, electricity, road tax, MOTs, repairs but there is a set mileage rate.

The 55p rate applies for the first 10,000 miles per year, with a lower rate of 25p applying after that. This rate is for cars and vans. The rates for using a motorbike or bike have not changed, and stay at 24p and 20p per mile respectively.

Read more about the mileage allowance on the gov.uk website.

The rate increase was announced as part of a package of measures the government says is designed to help with the rising costs of living, including fuel duty being frozen, which could also help businesses.

Will this new rate affect you?

Address

Stockport
SK26AE

Website

http://www.morrisaccountancyservices.co.uk/

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