CoreAdviz

Ever wondered how limited company directors actually pay themselves? 💷

It's not as simple as it looks — most people either overpay in tax or get their salary/dividend split wrong. Here's the smart combo: a small salary to build National Insurance credits, topped up with dividends taxed at a lower rate. Just remember, dividends can only come from profit!

Sole trader? HMRC doesn't send warnings before the fines start. ⚠️

Here are 3 things that get sole traders penalised every year:

1️⃣ Missing your Self Assessment deadline — even by one day
2️⃣ Errors on your tax return — miscalculated income, missed expenses, or wrong figures can trigger HMRC scrutiny
3️⃣ Poor record-keeping — no paper trail means no way to defend your numbers if HMRC comes asking

The good news? All three are 100% avoidable with the right systems in place.

Don't wait for a letter from HMRC to fix this. 📋

Follow for more real talk on sole trader & small business finances.

Profitable on paper. Broke in real life. 💸

Here's the truth most business owners learn the hard way: profit and cash flow are NOT the same thing.

3 ways it happens:

1️⃣ Clients take 60-90 days to pay — your profit is sitting in someone else's bank account
2️⃣ Stock/inventory ties up cash — it's an "asset" on paper, but frozen money until it sells
3️⃣ Loan repayments come out in cash but never show up as an expense on your P&L — so you can be profitable and still cash-poor

If you've ever looked at a healthy profit number and still couldn't pay your bills, this is why. 📊

Follow for more real talk on small business finances. 👇

Copy-pasting last year's numbers isn't a forecast — it's a guess with a spreadsheet. 📊

Energy prices, NI rates, supplier costs... they've all moved. Has your forecast? A few small adjustments now could be the difference between a stressful Q4 and a controlled one.

Save this for when you sit down with your numbers 👇

Think your side hustle is flying under HMRC's radar? Think again 👀

Here are 3 signs HMRC already knows about your extra income — from platform reporting rules to your everyday bank transactions. If you're earning on the side, it's always better to declare early than get caught out later.

Earned over £1,000 from a side hustle? You need to tell HMRC. Save this post so you don't forget 📌

👉 www.coreadviz.co.uk for more tax tips that actually make sense.

Did you know your first £500 of dividend income is completely tax-free? 💷

Here's how it breaks down: once you go beyond that £500 allowance, you start paying dividend tax — and the rate depends on your income band. For example, £4,500 of taxable dividends at 10.75% works out to about £484 in tax. But if your salary pushes you into a higher band, that rate can jump all the way to 35.75%.

Understanding your dividend tax bands can save you real money — especially if you're a business owner or investor drawing income this way. 📊

Want a clearer picture of how much tax you could be paying (or saving)? Get in touch with the team at CoreAdviz 👉 www.coreadviz.co.uk

I took £10,000 out of my company... here's what happened to my tax bill 😳

Most directors don't realise how fast this can turn into a 33.75% HMRC charge. Know the difference before it costs you. 💷

🛠️ Built something great? Don't let one accident undo it.

Contractors work hard to build their business — but one unprotected moment can put it all at risk. Here's why insurance isn't optional, it's essential:

1️⃣ Insurance covers accidents on the job
2️⃣ Contracts often require proof of coverage
3️⃣ It protects your tools & equipment
4️⃣ One serious mistake can threaten your personal savings and assets
5️⃣ Insurance builds trust, wins better jobs, and protects your reputation

📋 Protect your business now — before one claim changes everything.

Money in the bank ≠ profit. That's the mistake that quietly sinks UK businesses every year.

Your bank balance shows what you have right now. Your Profit & Loss shows whether your business is actually making money. Confuse the two, and you could be spending cash you haven't really earned — until it's too late.

Save this as your reminder 📌 and follow for more real talk on UK business finance.

Think you're sorted for Making Tax Digital? Not so fast.

Here are 3 red flags HMRC won't let slide:

1️⃣ Using spreadsheets alone — unless they're linked to HMRC-recognised bridging software, they don't count.
2️⃣ Any manual re-entry between your records and your submission — this breaks the "digital link" rule.
3️⃣ Scrambling to reconstruct months of receipts right before a deadline — MTD is about ongoing digital record-keeping, not a quarterly panic.

Don't wait for a compliance check to find out you've been doing it wrong. Get your systems sorted properly. 💼

👉 Follow for more UK business tax tips that actually make sense.