Tax Planning

Good tax planning is about keeping more of what you earn, legitimately. We review your whole position and structure it efficiently: the optimal director salary and dividend split for the current tax year, R&D tax credit claims, capital gains planning, and inheritance tax.

For founders and startups, we structure SEIS and EIS investment rounds and EMI share option schemes so you can raise capital and reward your team with maximum tax relief. Planning ahead, before your year-end, is where the real savings are made.

Why timing matters more than technique

Most tax advice arrives too late to be worth anything. Once your year end has passed, the pension contribution was not made, the asset was not bought, the disposal fell in the wrong tax year, and all that is left is reporting what happened. Almost every meaningful saving requires a decision before a date. That is the entire argument of our note on proactive planning versus reactive returns, and it is why we review positions during the year rather than after it.

Director salary and dividends

How you pay yourself from your company has a direct effect on your tax bill. With employer National Insurance at 15% and dividend rates having risen again in April 2026, to 10.75% and 35.75%, the optimal mix has shifted. We calculate the precise split for your circumstances, factoring in the Employment Allowance, your personal allowance and any other income. See our guide to the most tax-efficient director salary.

Extraction beyond salary and dividends

The default two-item menu is rarely optimal on its own. Employer pension contributions, rent for premises you own personally, interest on a directors loan in credit, an electric company car and tax-free benefits can all form part of a properly constructed mix, and several have become relatively more attractive as dividend rates have risen. Our guides to profit extraction beyond salary and dividends and electric company cars work through the options with numbers.

R&D tax credits, SEIS/EIS and EMI

If you build products or solve technical problems, you may qualify for R&D tax relief under the merged scheme, and we prepare robust claims with the technical and financial narrative HMRC now demands. For fundraising, we secure SEIS and EIS advance assurance so investors get their relief, and design EMI share option schemes to reward key staff tax-efficiently, including the HMRC valuation. Start with our guides to SEIS vs EIS and EMI share option schemes.

Corporate structure and profit

Where profits sit matters as much as how they are extracted. Marginal relief means the slice between £50,000 and £250,000 is taxed at an effective 26.5%, and those thresholds are divided between associated companies, so owners of more than one company frequently pay more than they expect. Capital allowances, loss relief and group structures all change the answer, and all reward being looked at before the year closes.

Capital gains, business sales and inheritance

With the CGT annual exempt amount at £3,000 and Business Asset Disposal Relief now charged at 18% for disposals from April 2026, timing and structure matter more than ever when you sell shares, property or your business. The BADR conditions have to be satisfied for two years before a sale, which makes this a planning exercise years ahead of a transaction, not a negotiation at the end of one, see Business Asset Disposal Relief and exit readiness.

We also plan for inheritance tax, including the reforms to Business Property Relief, and for family arrangements such as spousal shareholdings, which need to be structured to survive the settlements legislation, as our guide to employing your spouse and alphabet shares explains.

Personal and property positions

Planning does not stop at the company. Pension contributions, the High Income Child Benefit Charge, property disposals and the 60-day CGT reporting rule, and charitable giving all interact with your company position, which is why we look at both together rather than treating your Self Assessment as a separate exercise.