By the time the return is filed, the tax is already decided. Planning has to happen while the year is open.
Nasir Rasheed, Director
Corporation tax planning for limited company directors who want the bill before it lands
Corporation tax planning for established limited companies in Milton Keynes and across the UK, run by Nasir Rasheed MAAT AATQB. You get the forecast before your year end, not months after it.
Most bills that shock a director were decided months earlier, by spend and pay that landed in the wrong year. There is a band of profit where each extra pound is taxed harder than the headline rate suggests. Nobody had shown them where they sat in it.
Nexus Tax and Accounting Solutions is a Milton Keynes accountancy practice run by Nasir Rasheed MAAT AATQB for established limited companies. Corporation tax planning is included in one monthly fee alongside accounts, VAT, payroll and the director’s self assessment. The corporation tax and dividend position is forecast a month before the bill lands.
Accredited and certified
- Nasir Rasheed MAAT AATQB
- Established 2024
- Three new clients a month
- Milton Keynes · UK-wide remote
What you get with corporation tax planning
Know the bill a month before it lands
Your corporation tax and dividend headroom are forecast before the year end, so the money is set aside.
Spend and pension timed for the right year
Capital purchases and employer pension contributions get looked at while the timing still changes the figure.
Advice included, not charged by the hour
Planning sits inside the monthly fee on a fair-use basis, so you can ask before you commit to anything.
Three ways a corporation tax bill turns into a surprise
Each of these started with a decision made without the numbers in front of the director.
- Tax bill
“The accounts came back months after our year end, and the corporation tax bill was far bigger than anything I had set aside.”
The profit was known the day the year closed. Hearing the number nine months later removed every option to do something about it.
- Spend
“I bought the vans just after the year end because cash was better then. Nobody told me what three weeks earlier would have done.”
Which side of the year end a purchase falls decides which year the relief lands in. That conversation has to happen before the year closes.
- Pension
“Profit drifted past the small profits rate and every extra pound was taxed harder. I only found out when the return was filed.”
In the band between the small profits rate and the main rate, marginal relief makes extra profit expensive. An employer pension contribution decided in time can change where you sit.
- Day 90
What changes once the advice is in the room
You see the corporation tax figure while the spend, the pension and the dividend are still decisions. Nasir tells you what moves the number and what does not. Then you choose, with the cash already accounted for.
Quick check · no email
If your accountant cannot tell you what your corporation tax bill will be before it lands, whether your VAT scheme is right, and get back to you this week, you have the wrong accountant
Three questions about the accountant you have now, answered yes or no.
Question 1 of 3
Could they tell you this week what your corporation tax bill will be at this year end?
Could they tell you whether a purchase or pension contribution should fall before or after your year end?
Could they get back to you on a planning question within a week of you asking?
That gap is real, and it is costing you the decisions you could still make this year. The set-up review is where it gets looked at properly.
That is a reasonable position, and one area is still unchecked. Look at the forecast entry below and decide whether you want the number earlier.
You are well served, and there is no reason to move. Read the guides if you want a second view on timing before your year end.
Filing the corporation tax return and planning the tax are two different jobs
A year-end accountant reports what happened. Planning happens while you can still change it.
Filing only
The return is prepared correctly and filed on time.
You hear the figure once the year is already closed.
Capital spend and pension are recorded, never timed.
Questions in between are an extra, or go unanswered.
Planning included
The forecast reaches you before your year end.
Spend, pension and dividends are decided while they still move the number.
Your VAT scheme and pay structure are checked in the same review.
You ask Nasir before you commit, and he replies himself.
Eight questions about your own corporation tax position
Answer these about the last twelve months, not the last ten years.
- 01
Do you know what your corporation tax bill will be at this year end?
If the answer comes from the return, it comes too late.
- 02
Do you know whether your profit sits in the marginal relief band?
That band decides what an extra pound of profit really costs.
- 03
Has anyone timed a capital purchase around your year end?
Weeks either side change which year the deduction lands in.
- 04
Has an employer pension contribution been considered before the year closed?
It is a deduction for the company and it has to be paid in time.
- 05
Do you know your dividend headroom right now?
Reserves and tax reserved decide what can safely come out.
- 06
Has your salary and dividend split been reviewed since incorporation?
Most have not been looked at since the company was formed.
- 07
Has anyone checked that your VAT scheme suits your actual costs?
Low input VAT often means the default scheme is the wrong one.
- 08
Can you get a planning answer from your accountant this week?
Advice you cannot get in time is not advice you can act on.
What corporation tax planning covers here
Three pieces of work, all inside the monthly fee.
Corporation tax and dividend forecast
The figure before your year end, with the cash position and dividend headroom beside it.
Spend, pension and marginal rate review
Where your profit sits, and what moving a purchase or a contribution would change.
Pay structure and VAT scheme check
Salary, dividends and VAT scheme reviewed together, because they move the same tax figure.
Entry 01
What a forecast a month ahead actually does
The promise every Nexus client gets, written plainly.
Clients described by type. Names withheld.
What clients say
How the planning year runs with Nexus
Four points where a decision gets made instead of reported.
Your position read before anything is filed
Nasir reviews structure, VAT scheme, salary and dividends and software, and tells you what should change.
Books that reconcile, so the forecast is real
Bookkeeping gets a routine and the handover from your previous accountant is dealt with.
The tax figure, with the levers next to it
You see the corporation tax number, the marginal position and what timing spend or pension would do to it.
Decisions flagged before your year end
A check-in every few months raises anything concerning early, and queries in between get a prompt reply.
Who this is not for
Start-ups in their first or second year, where there is little to plan yet.
Sole traders turning over under £150,000, unless incorporation is the obvious move.
Property-only landlords and cash businesses.
Price-driven buyers who want filing done and no conversation with anyone.
If you are an established limited company that wants the numbers early, the set-up review is where we start.
Questions directors ask before they move
What does the monthly fee include?
Year-end accounts, the CT600, the confirmation statement, VAT returns, bookkeeping, payroll and pensions, and the director’s self assessment. Proactive planning is part of it on a fair-use basis: VAT scheme review, salary and dividend planning, and the corporation tax forecast ahead of the bill. The fee is scoped after Nasir has reviewed your set-up.
We already have an accountant. Is corporation tax planning worth moving for?
It depends what you get now. If the figure reaches you after the year has closed, nothing can be done about spend, pension or dividend timing. Moving matters when you want the number while decisions are still open, and someone who replies when you ask. If your current accountant already does that, stay.
Do we have to change our accounting software?
No. Nexus works with Xero and will keep you where you are if your records are current and reconcile. Software only changes when the existing set-up is making the numbers late or unreliable, and Nasir will explain why before anything moves. That judgement is part of the set-up review.
What happens with our current accountant?
You do not chase them yourself. Nexus handles professional clearance and the collection of your records, then runs the set-up review and sets out the first-year timetable. There is no separate charge for the handover. Most directors only need to send one short email telling their old firm they are moving.
When in the year should corporation tax planning happen?
Well before the year end, because that is when spend, employer pension contributions and dividend timing can still change the figure. Nexus forecasts corporation tax and dividend headroom a month before the bill lands, and raises anything concerning at check-ins through the year rather than at filing time.
Do you only work with companies in Milton Keynes?
Nexus is based in Milton Keynes and works with clients across the UK remotely. Nasir rarely needs to meet in person, and local territory includes Bletchley, Newport Pagnell, Stony Stratford, Bedford, Northampton and Leighton Buzzard. Nexus takes three new clients a month, so every client deals with Nasir directly.
Three ways to take the next step
Take the two-minute quiz
If the fit looks right, Nasir books the set-up review and comes back with your forecast and a written list of what to change.
See if Nexus is a fit 02 · A question firstGot one question about your year end?
Send it to Nasir and you get an answer from him, not from an account manager.
Ask Nasir a question 03 · Still decidingStill deciding
The guides explain how timing, marginal relief and dividend headroom fit together before you commit to anything.
Read the guides →