Dennis Chen- DC Accountants

Last week's announcement got covered everywhere for care workers and commuters. Barely anyone pointed it at company directors.

If you use your own car for business, the mileage rate just went from 45p to 55p a mile for your first 10,000 miles, backdated to April. That's up to £5,500 a year you can take out of your company with no tax and no National Insurance - up from £4,500.

It's one of the few ways to move money from the company into your pocket completely tax-free, and it cuts your corporation tax on top. Yet most directors are either still logging at 45p or not claiming at all.

Check your rate. Log every business mile since April at 55p.
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If you're paying for life insurance out of your own pocket as a director, you're almost certainly paying more than you need to.
Here's the problem.

To fund a monthly premium personally, you first have to extract that money from your company - and pay dividend tax on it. You're using money that's already been taxed to pay for something your company could have covered directly.
There's a better way.

It's called a Relevant Life Policy - and it changes the whole picture.

When your company pays the premiums, they count as a legitimate business expense. That means corporation tax relief on every single payment. And unlike most company-paid benefits, it doesn't count as a benefit in kind - so no income tax, no National Insurance either.

The cover itself works similarly to a personal policy. But the tax treatment is completely different.
I've had directors tell me they had no idea this existed. Their accountant had never once brought it up.

That's not unusual - it's the difference between an accountant who files your returns and one who's actively looking at how to structure things in your favour.

Follow for more - no fluff, just what your accountant probably hasn't told you.

If you work from home as a director and you're not claiming a working-from-home allowance - you're leaving money behind every single month.
Here's what HMRC actually allows.

Your company can pay you £6 a week completely tax-free. No receipts. No paperwork. Just £312 a year straight into your pocket with no tax on either side.

But that's the floor - not the ceiling.

If your actual home running costs - broadband, utilities, heating - are higher than that flat rate, you can claim the real figure instead. You work out how many rooms you have, how many you use for work, and what proportion of your time in that space is business use.

Get it right and the figure can be significantly more than £312.
I've seen directors miss hundreds of pounds every single year. Not because they weren't entitled to it - because nobody ever sat down and ran the numbers with them.

That's exactly why I built the free Work From Home Calculator. It takes under two minutes and shows you exactly what you could be claiming.

Comment HOME below and I'll send it straight to you.

Most directors think leaving cash in the company is the sensible move.
And on the surface, it looks like it is.

But here's what's actually happening.
Every tax year, you have a basic rate dividend band - up to around £50,270. Dividends taken inside that band are taxed at 8.75%. Above it? 33.75%. Nearly four times as much.

If you don't use that band - it resets. It doesn't carry forward. It's gone.
So when life hits - a wedding, a house deposit, a big personal expense - and you need to pull money out, you're doing it at the higher rate. Not because it had to be that way. Because nobody planned ahead.

Here's what I'd do instead.
Even in a quiet year, take the dividend. Pay the lower rate. Then park it straight back into your director's loan account tax-free. You're not spending it - you're just moving it efficiently.

This is one of the most common and most avoidable money leaks I see in limited companies.
Most accountants never bring it up - not because it's complicated, but because they're not thinking ahead on your behalf.

Follow for more - no fluff, just what your accountant probably hasn't told you.

Most directors are leaving money on the table.
Not because they're doing anything wrong - no one's ever sat them down and shown them what's claimable.

Things you can put through your limited company that your accountant may not have flagged:
Trivial benefits - up to £50 per gift, £300 cap per year. No tax, no NI, no P11D.
Staff party - £150 per head, per year. Sole director? Bring your spouse as a guest, the £150 covers them too.
Mileage in your personal car - 45p per mile for the first 10,000, 25p after.
Company phone - contract in the company's name. Fully claimable, no BIK, personal use fine.
Pension contributions - paid directly by the company, reduces corporation tax. Up to £60k a year.
Relevant Life cover - tax-deductible, not a benefit-in-kind. Almost nobody knows it exists.
Training and CPD - courses, books, conferences. If it relates to your trade, it's claimable.
Health screening - one screening and one medical check-up per year, per employee. Tax-free.
Home office - £6/week flat, or claim actual costs (heating, broadband, slice of rent). Most directors don't run the numbers and lose out.

This isn't tax avoidance. It's using the rules properly.
If your accountant has never walked you through any of this, that's the gap.

Comment HOME and I'll send you my Work-From-Home Allowance Calculator so you know exactly what to claim.

Most directors are leaving money on the table.
Not because they're doing anything wrong - no one's ever sat them down and shown them what's claimable.

Things you can put through your limited company that your accountant may not have flagged:
Trivial benefits - up to £50 per gift, £300 cap per year. No tax, no NI, no P11D.
Staff party - £150 per head, per year. Sole director? Bring your spouse as a guest, the £150 covers them too.
Mileage in your personal car - 45p per mile for the first 10,000, 25p after.
Company phone - contract in the company's name. Fully claimable, no BIK, personal use fine.
Pension contributions - paid directly by the company, reduces corporation tax. Up to £60k a year.
Relevant Life cover - tax-deductible, not a benefit-in-kind. Almost nobody knows it exists.
Training and CPD - courses, books, conferences. If it relates to your trade, it's claimable.
Health screening - one screening and one medical check-up per year, per employee. Tax-free.
Home office - £6/week flat, or claim actual costs (heating, broadband, slice of rent). Most directors don't run the numbers and lose out.

This isn't tax avoidance. It's using the rules properly.
If your accountant has never walked you through any of this, that's the gap.

Comment HOME and I'll send you my Work-From-Home Allowance Calculator so you know exactly what to claim.

Most directors end up chasing their accountant for answers — and that’s where the problem starts.

Ask a question and you’ll usually get a link, a late reply, or an answer that creates more confusion than clarity.

But the real issue is this: you’re always the one asking.
No one is calling you first. No one is flagging risks before they become problems.

That’s not proactive accounting — that’s just filing.
Filing looks backwards. Proper accounting looks ahead and protects your position before you even ask.

You shouldn’t have to chase answers that affect your money.

Most directors take dividends whenever they need cash — without realising what it’s costing them.

Once your total income passes £50,270, dividend tax jumps from 10.75% to 35.75%.

That means every extra £1 above the threshold can cost nearly 35p in tax.
The problem?

Most directors cross that line without anyone tracking it in real time.

Not because they’re doing anything wrong — because nobody reviewed the structure early enough.