Blog / HMRC and compliance
HMRC, deadlines and compliance for UK businesses
Filing deadlines, Self Assessment, Making Tax Digital, bookkeeping and what happens when HMRC asks questions, explained by Simon Jacobs, Chartered Tax Adviser.
Companies House identity verification: directors are now being prosecuted
Every company director and person with significant control now has to verify their identity with Companies House, and the first directors have been convicted and fined for acting without doing it.
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New limited company deadlines: accounts and tax return
A limited company files annual accounts, a Company Tax Return and a confirmation statement, and pays Corporation Tax. The first year has its own deadlines, including 21 months for first accounts.
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Business expenses on a personal card: can you still claim?
A genuine business cost paid on a personal card can still go into the accounts, but only if your accountant knows about it. Keep the receipt and flag the payment so it is recorded.
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When are Making Tax Digital quarterly updates due?
The quarterly update for the period ending 5 October is due by 7 November. It has to go through compatible software, and each income source needs its own update.
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What do you need to file your Self Assessment tax return?
The online deadline for the 2025 to 2026 return is 31 January 2027. You need your income, expenses, pension and charity payments, dividends, interest and any gains to hand.
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AI replaced his bookkeeper. It cost £20k in extra tax.
One agency owner automated his bookkeeping with AI. It treated expenses as income and left his accounts unbalanced, pushing his tax bill around £20k too high.
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Does HMRC really look at your social media before opening an enquiry?
HMRC compares what you report with other information available about you. If the lifestyle on your feed does not match the income on your return, that mismatch can be the thing that gets noticed.
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Does HMRC pay people for reporting serious tax evasion?
HMRC's Strengthened Reward Scheme can pay a share of the tax recovered in serious cases. It is aimed at very large evasion and avoidance, not at everyday business tax, and it says something useful about where HMRC is putting its effort.
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Lost the receipt: does HMRC still let you claim the expense?
HMRC can reject an expense you can't prove. A bank statement and a note may do for small costs from known suppliers. Bigger or unusual costs need the receipt.
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What happens if HMRC finds a personal cost in your agency's expenses?
Trying to claim personal costs as business expenses is exactly how you open yourself up to an HMRC investigation. Here is what actually happens when HMRC disallows one, and why the cost is rarely limited to the expense itself.
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Why is your agency not growing? Look at what you spend on tools
Tool spend creeps up one subscription at a time and nobody owns the total. An expense being deductible is not the same as it being worth paying, and the arithmetic on that is less forgiving than most founders assume.
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