Chartered Tax Adviser · CTA · ACA · Ex-PwC
In advertising, huge sums flow through your books that were never really yours, and it is easy to end up taxed as if they were.
SRJ International is a firm of specialist accountants and Chartered Tax Advisers for UK advertising and media agencies. Led by Simon Jacobs, a Chartered Tax Adviser (CTA · ACA) and ex-PwC, we handle media passthrough, VAT on ad spend, commission income, profit extraction, and exit planning around how the money really flows.
A general accountant will file your accounts and keep you compliant. That is the floor, not the ceiling. Advertising agencies carry a problem most businesses do not: enormous client media spend flowing through the books that is not really income, alongside a mix of commission and fees, VAT on media, and heavy contractor use.
Booked wrongly, all of that hides your true profit and inflates your tax. Because we only work with agencies, we see it constantly, and because our founder is a Chartered Tax Adviser (CTA · ACA) who trained at PwC, the planning goes well beyond high-street box-ticking. The advice fits how an advertising business actually earns.
What actually moves the numbers
Client media spend runs through your accounts but was never your income. Booked wrongly, it inflates turnover and hides your real margin. We treat pass-through as pass-through, so the numbers show genuine agency profit.
VAT for agencies →Rebilled ad spend, platform fees, and overseas media all complicate VAT. We make sure you are on the right scheme and that VAT on media is handled correctly for your specific client mix.
How agency VAT works →Commission and fees are taxed as income but behave differently in the accounts. We keep them clean and separate from money in transit, so you pay tax on real profit, not turnover.
Tax moves for owners →Media and creative production lean on contractors, which raises employment status and IR35 questions. We help you engage people in a way that stays clean and defensible.
What you can claim →How you split salary and dividends decides how much of the agency's profit you keep. We plan director pay and extraction around your numbers, not a generic template.
Salary vs dividends →Buyers scrutinise whether reported profit survives once passthrough is stripped out. We structure and clean the books early so the agency is worth more and the sale is tax-efficient.
Plan tax around your exit →Agency founders, and business owners who came to Simon for the same reason: the tax was being filed, not planned.
“Simon helped me save thousands on my tax bill and prevented me from losing my Personal Allowance. He also gave me very good insights and advice into cryptocurrency, which will save me thousands of pounds in the future.”
“Simon helped me reclaim money I did not even realise I was entitled to, saved me a significant amount in tax through proper structuring, and ensured everything is compliant and future-proof.
What really separates him is how proactive and responsive he is. He advises, explains, and genuinely fights your corner with HMRC. You feel protected, informed, and strategically guided at all times.”
“Simon has always given the best he can for the customer. Understanding my situation has allowed him to advise and guide me in the right direction and be more tax efficient where possible.”
We also work with marketing agencies and creative agencies and digital marketing agencies. See client results or read the agency tax notes.
Advertising agency FAQ
It helps a lot. Advertising agencies move large sums of client media spend through their own accounts, earn a mix of commission and fees, and carry VAT complications a generalist rarely handles. A specialist separates money that is genuinely yours from money only passing through, so you are taxed correctly.
Carefully. Media you buy on a client's behalf is not your income, but if it is booked wrongly it inflates turnover, distorts margin, and confuses your VAT. We make sure pass-through spend is treated as pass-through, so your accounts show real agency profit rather than money in transit.
Advertising and media services are generally standard-rated in the UK, but where your client is based changes the position under the place-of-supply rules, and rebilled ad spend needs handling carefully. We make sure VAT sits on the right scheme for your client mix rather than leaving it to chance.
Commission and fee income are both taxable, but they behave differently in the accounts and can distort your margin if mixed in with rebilled media. We separate what is genuinely yours from money passing through, so you are taxed on real profit rather than turnover that was never really income.
Yes. Serving overseas clients, or being billed by ad platforms based abroad, changes your VAT and can raise wider international questions. We look at both the UK and the overseas side, so the position is handled correctly rather than assumed.
Yes, and the earlier the better. Buyers look hard at how clean the numbers are and whether reported profit is real once passthrough is stripped out. Clean, well-structured books built 12 to 24 months ahead make the agency worth more and the sale far more tax-efficient.
General information, not personal tax advice. Rules and thresholds change; we advise on your specific position on a call.
Book a short discovery call and we will look at where your profit is going.