Sara Coopers Accountants

Tax planning isn't a once-a-year conversation.

Every decision, salary, dividends, property finance, contracts, pensions, carries a tax consequence. Addressed proactively, each one is an opportunity. Left unplanned, each one is a cost.

Whether you're a tech founder, contractor, landlord, or SME director:

The question isn't whether you need a strategy. It's whether yours is actually working.

Sara Coopers works with clients throughout the year, not just at filing time.

Book a Tax Strategy Call
https://saracoopers.com/

How your portfolio is financed has a direct impact on your tax position, yet most landlords plan mortgage strategy separately from tax strategy.

Key areas where structure matters:
→ Interest-only vs repayment (different net positions under current rules)
→ Releasing equity, can carry unintended tax consequences if unplanned
→ Portfolio debt allocation, which property carries which debt has a real impact
→ Joint ownership, income splits can meaningfully reduce total household tax

Sara Coopers works alongside your mortgage broker to ensure your finance decisions align with your tax strategy, before you sign.

Book a Tax Strategy Call
https://saracoopers.com/

Pension contributions are one of the most underused planning tools available to UK contractors, despite being one of the most effective.

As a sole trader or CIS subcontractor:
→ Contributions attract income tax relief at your marginal rate
→ Higher-rate taxpayers receive substantial relief on every contribution

As a limited company contractor:
→ Employer contributions are fully deductible against company profits
→ No income tax or National Insurance applies to the contribution

Annual allowance: £60,000 for 2025/26.
Carry forward of unused allowance from prior years is also available.

Review Your Tax Position

These five mistakes are common across UK SMEs, and entirely avoidable with proactive advice.

Mistake 1: Not claiming all allowable business expenses
Mistake 2: Ignoring pension contributions as a company tax tool
Mistake 3: Taking salary above the personal allowance unnecessarily
Mistake 4: Letting the director's loan account go overdrawn at year-end
Mistake 5: Reviewing tax only at filing time, when the planning window has already closed

Sara Coopers catches these in quarterly reviews, before they become unnecessary tax bills.

Book a Tax Strategy Call:
https://saracoopers.com/

Enterprise Management Incentive (EMI) schemes allow qualifying companies to grant share options to key employees, with significant tax advantages on both sides.

For employees:
→ Gains at exit taxed at just 10% (vs income tax rates on a cash bonus)
→ No tax on the grant itself

For the company:
→ Tax deduction at the point of exercise
→ No employer National Insurance on the gain
→ Zero immediate cash cost

Sara Coopers manages the full process from advance approval through to the ongoing options register.

Book a Tax Strategy Call
https://saracoopers.com/

SEIS and EIS are UK government-backed investment schemes that make your startup considerably more fundable.

Under SEIS: investors receive 50% tax relief on their investment.
Under EIS: investors receive 30% tax relief.

A £10,000 SEIS investment effectively costs the investor £5,000.

Lower investor risk means higher investor appetite, and a stronger position for your raise.

Sara Coopers advises on eligibility, advance approval, and correct share issuance structure.

Book a Tax Strategy Call to confirm your eligibility before your next raise:
https://saracoopers.com/

Dividend planning is one of the most overlooked areas of tax efficiency for limited company directors.

Getting it right means:
✔ Using your full basic-rate allowance each year
✔ Coordinating dividends with pension contributions
✔ Planning across the tax year, not scrambling at year-end
✔ Considering whether a partner's allowance is being used

Getting it wrong — even by a few weeks — can push income into a higher band unnecessarily.

This is what proactive tax planning actually looks like.

Get Expert Advice: https://saracoopers.com/

A Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) is a limited company set up specifically to hold property, and it operates under different tax rules to personal ownership.

Inside an SPV:
✔ Mortgage interest remains fully deductible
✔ Profits taxed at company rates, lower than higher-rate income tax
✔ Retained profits can be reinvested without triggering personal tax

The important caveat: transferring existing properties into a company can trigger stamp duty and capital gains. This must be properly modelled before any action is taken.

Sara Coopers runs the full feasibility analysis so every decision is grounded in real numbers.

Book a Tax Strategy Call: https://saracoopers.com/

Under the off-payroll working rules, your client determines your employment status for tax purposes, and the financial impact of getting it wrong is significant.

Inside IR35: income taxed as employment, National Insurance deducted, dividend flexibility removed.
Outside IR35: you operate through your company with full efficiency intact.

What actually determines your status:
✔ Your right to send a substitute
✔ Who controls how and when work is delivered
✔ Whether financial risk sits with you

Sara Coopers reviews your contracts, advises on working practices, and provides a formal written status opinion.

Review Your Tax Position : https://saracoopers.com/

How you take money from your company is one of the most important financial decisions you make each year.

For most owner-directors, a structured mix of salary and dividends is significantly more efficient than salary alone.

The key is getting the ratio right.

Too much salary: unnecessary National Insurance on both sides.
Too little planning: missed pension and allowance opportunities.

At Sara Coopers, we model the right extraction structure for your specific situation, every year.

Get Expert Advice: https://saracoopers.com/