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SC Tax We create expert tax solutions to complex financial situations.

25/10/2026

Running a limited company? Here’s how we help you keep more of what you earn. 💼

- tax-efficient profit extraction through salary, dividends and pensions
- clear advice on what your company can and can’t pay for
- bookkeeping, payroll, VAT, accounts and tax returns, all filed on time
- holding company structures and shareholder planning as you grow
- fixed, transparent fees, with a quote in minutes on our website

Book a Free 15 Minute Consultation via our website: www.sctax.co.uk

25/10/2026

Since April 2023, the number of associated companies has had a real impact on Corporation Tax bills.

The £50,000 small profits limit and £250,000 main rate limit are divided by the number of associated companies. A company with £50,000 of profit and one associate pays around £11,375 rather than £9,500, because its limits fall to £25,000 and £125,000.

Companies are associated where one controls the other or both are under common control at any time in the accounting period. Interests of relatives such as spouses, parents, children and siblings can be attributed, but only where there is substantial commercial interdependence between the companies. Dormant companies and certain passive holding companies are excluded.

The £1.5 million threshold for quarterly instalment payments is divided in the same way, so a growing group can find itself paying tax earlier than expected.

Book a Free 15 Minute Consultation via our website: www.sctax.co.uk

23/10/2026

Moving back to the UK after 10+ years abroad? This could save you a lot of tax. 🇬🇧✈️

Our founder Luke Shergold, Chartered Tax Adviser, explains the new foreign income and gains (FIG) regime, which started on 6 April 2025.

If you’ve been non-UK resident for 10 consecutive tax years and you move back:

- your foreign income and gains can be exempt from UK tax for your first 4 years
- you don’t have to keep the money outside the UK
- it’s open to UK nationals too, unlike the old remittance basis rules

Employed? If you spend some of your working time overseas, you may be able to exempt your overseas workdays as well. That can apply even if you work for a UK employer that has taken full PAYE, so you could be due a repayment at the end of the year.

Moving back to the UK, or moving abroad? Our aim is to make the complicated simple.

Book a Free 15 Minute Consultation via our website: www.sctax.co.uk

22/10/2026

Trustees often focus on the ten-year charge, but exit charges arise far more frequently. Every distribution of capital from a relevant property trust needs checking.

The exit charge is calculated as value leaving the trust × effective rate × complete quarters ÷ 40. Before the first ten-year anniversary, the effective rate depends on the trust’s value at commencement and the settlor’s 7-year history. After that, it’s based on the last ten-year charge. Points worth noting:

- no charge arises in the first 3 months after commencement or after a ten-year anniversary
- trusts settled within the nil rate band often have a nil rate for their first decade
- a nil-rate exit is still an occasion of inheritance tax, so holdover relief for capital gains tax is usually available
- the IHT100 and any tax are due by the end of the sixth month after the month of the exit

Book a Free 15 Minute Consultation via our website: www.sctax.co.uk

21/10/2026

A common and costly stamp duty trap: buying a new main home before the old one has sold.

On completion day, the buyer owns two homes, so the higher rates apply: 5% on top of the standard rates in England and Northern Ireland. On a £450,000 purchase, that’s £35,000 rather than £12,500.

The extra can be reclaimed if the previous main residence is sold within 36 months of buying the new one. Key conditions:

- the property sold must have been the buyer’s previous main residence
- neither the buyer nor their spouse can retain any interest in it
- the claim must be made within 12 months of the sale, or of the filing date of the SDLT return if later
- limited exceptional circumstances can extend the 3-year window

The refund has to be claimed from HMRC, so it’s worth checking any recent purchases where the higher rates were paid.

Book a Free 15 Minute Consultation via our website: www.sctax.co.uk

20/10/2026

The remittance basis ended on 6 April 2025. Domicile no longer matters for income tax or capital gains tax. What counts now is how long you’ve been UK resident.

Under the new foreign income and gains (FIG) regime, individuals who become UK resident after at least 10 consecutive years of non-residence can claim 100% relief on their foreign income and gains for their first 4 tax years. Key points:

- relieved income and gains can be brought to the UK without a tax charge
- claims are made year by year on the Self Assessment return, and you can choose which sources to claim on
- claiming means losing the personal allowance and the capital gains tax annual exempt amount for that year
- overseas workday relief runs alongside it for 4 years, capped at the lower of £300,000 or 30% of employment income
- former remittance basis users can use the Temporary Repatriation Facility at 12% until April 2027, and 15% in 2027/28

Inheritance tax has also moved to a residence test, with worldwide assets in scope after 10 of the last 20 tax years of UK residence.

Book a Free 15 Minute Consultation via our website: www.sctax.co.uk

19/10/2026

Ireland has become the European base for many of the world’s biggest tech companies, and corporation tax is a large part of the reason.

- 12.5% on trading profits, a rate that has been in place for over 20 years
- 25% on non-trading income
- a 15% minimum effective rate for groups with turnover of €750m or more since 2024, under the OECD global minimum tax
- 10% on qualifying IP income through the Knowledge Development Box
- a 30% R&D tax credit

VAT is a different story. Ireland’s 23% standard rate is above the UK’s 20%, and destination-based rules mean location doesn’t reduce VAT on digital services.

For UK content creators, there’s a practical knock-on effect. Income paid by an overseas Google company is often outside the scope of UK VAT, which affects both VAT registration and invoicing.

Book a Free 15 Minute Consultation via our website: www.sctax.co.uk

16/10/2026

Closing your limited company? 📄 A DS01 strikes it off, usually within about 2 months. Take out your money first, because anything left goes to the Crown, and up to £25,000 can usually be taxed as a capital gain.

Book a Free 15 Minute Consultation via our website.

15/10/2026

Most companies are set up with the Companies House model articles, and many directors don’t realise what that means for dividends: with a single class of shares, every shareholder receives the same amount per share.

Updating the articles and creating separate share classes, often called alphabet shares, allows dividends to be declared on each class separately. The process usually involves:

- a special resolution adopting new articles
- creating or redesignating share classes
- filing the prescribed particulars of each class with Companies House on forms such as SH01, SH08 or SH10
- declaring dividends by class with proper minutes and vouchers

The flexibility has limits. Dividends still need distributable reserves, and HMRC’s settlements rules can tax dividends on the original shareholder where shares are passed to a spouse or family with little more than a right to income.

Book a Free 15 Minute Consultation via our website: www.sctax.co.uk

14/10/2026

For owners of profitable companies, a holding company structure can be worth considering.

The holding company owns the trading company, and dividends between UK group companies are usually free of Corporation Tax. That can allow you to:

- extract surplus cash from the trading company without personal tax
- separate valuable assets from trading risks
- reinvest in property or new ventures
- benefit from the substantial shareholding exemption on a future sale of a subsidiary
- use group relief for losses

It needs careful set-up, usually a share exchange with HMRC clearance, and the associated companies rules, admin costs and Business Asset Disposal Relief all need thinking through.

Book a free 15-minute consultation by visiting www.sctax.co.uk

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