Freelance Accountants in Greenford

Complex — depends on what you produce. Basic groceries (raw ingredients, cold prepared foods for takeaway) are zero-rated. Hot takeaway food, confectionery, crisps, savoury snacks, and all eat-in food are standard-rated. Catering services are standard-rated. For a producer selling into retail, you'll typically pay VAT on ingredients and packaging (reclaimable if registered) and charge VAT only on standard-rated lines. Flat Rate is almost never optimal for food producers — Standard VAT with monthly reclaim tracking usually wins. Accountants in our network handle quarterly returns and the regular scheme review.

All income consolidated on SA103. Same tax rules apply regardless of platform. The important thing is tracking: each platform reports to HMRC differently, so you need consistent mileage and expense records across all of them. On our sole trader service we categorise income per platform and run one clean set of accounts that matches what HMRC sees from platform reporting. Mileage is the main deduction — full-time multi-platform drivers usually claim £8,000-£12,000/year in mileage alone.

Substantial amounts, usually in year one. The Annual Investment Allowance (AIA) gives 100% first-year relief on up to £1m of qualifying plant and machinery, including commercial vans (not cars — different rules). A £25,000 van purchase, used 100% for business, is fully deductible in year one under AIA. Equipment (power tools, workshop machinery, etc.) similarly. For a Greenford CIS sub buying a van and fit-out in year one, the AIA claim often takes their taxable profit substantially below their CIS deductions, leading to a significantly larger refund that year.

A proportion of home costs (utilities, insurance, council tax) based on space and usage — same principle as home office. For a dedicated workshop in a garage or outbuilding used wholly for business, the actual-cost method is usually appropriate. Capital improvements to the workshop space (insulation, dedicated electrics, workshop fit-out) are claimable as capital allowances. Be aware of CGT implications if the workshop use is substantial and exclusive — similar to the garden-office issue, the business-use proportion may erode the principal private residence exemption.

A meaningful tipping point. Once you employ someone, you have PAYE obligations (monthly payroll, RTI filings), employer's NI, pension auto-enrolment, employer's liability insurance (mandatory), and HR admin. On our side, payroll for one employee is handled within the sole trader or contractor package at no extra charge; from two to five employees we add £10/mo/employee. For most sole traders the tipping point is when you genuinely can't meet demand with your own hours — usually £80k+ turnover for service businesses, £150k+ for product businesses.

Yes — we cover UB6 (Greenford and Perivale), UB5 (Northolt), UB4 (Hayes), UB1/UB2 (Southall), and the broader West London belt under the same fixed fees. A substantial portion of our delivery driver and CIS trade clients are based in UB6 but work across the whole of west and north-west London.