Are you paying too much tax? Or not enough?

Not legally — but most sole traders who try to do it themselves either overpay tax, miss deadlines, or get caught out by MTD when it lands. A decent accountant pays for themselves in time saved and tax planned properly. Halewood's sole trader accountancy starts at £225 a year for self-assessment only, scaling up if you want bookkeeping and quarterly reviews on top.

Making Tax Digital for Income Tax is HMRC's switch from one annual self-assessment to quarterly digital submissions. From April 2026, sole traders and landlords with self-employment or property income over £50k have to comply. From April 2027, the threshold drops to £30k. You'll need to keep digital records and send updates to HMRC every three months. Halewood is MTD-ready — Xero-only, fully digital, no scramble when the deadline lands.

A sole trader accountant typically handles self-assessment, basic bookkeeping and expenses. A limited company accountant handles statutory year-end accounts, corporation tax (CT600), payroll (PAYE), dividend planning, director's loan accounts, VAT if you're registered, and Companies House filings. The work is more complex and the fees reflect that — but the tax planning opportunities are also bigger. Halewood handles both, and the conversation about whether to switch from sole trader to Ltd if your numbers say it's time.

Yes. Most clients can switch any time — there's no contractual lock-in with most accountants beyond the standard notice period. The new accountant writes to the old one for handover, files are transferred, your authorisations with HMRC are updated. At Halewood we handle the whole switch for you — we contact your old accountant, get the records, sort the authorisations. You don't chase anything. Most switches take 2-3 weeks.