Your personal tax bill is decided by dividends you took in June. January is only when you find out.
Nasir Rasheed, Director
Director self assessment run inside your company routine, with the figures settled before January
Director self assessment at Nexus is part of the monthly company routine, not a separate January job. Salary, dividends and benefits are recorded as they happen, so the return is built from books that already reconcile.
Most directors learn what they owe personally in the last week of January. By then the dividend decisions that set the bill were made nine months earlier. There is a version of this where you know the number in the autumn and can plan around it.
Nexus Tax and Accounting Solutions is a Milton Keynes accountancy practice run by Nasir Rasheed MAAT AATQB for established limited companies. The director’s self assessment is included in one monthly fee alongside accounts, corporation tax, VAT, bookkeeping and payroll, with salary and dividend planning and a tax forecast a month ahead.
Accredited and certified
- Nasir Rasheed MAAT AATQB
- Established 2024
- Three new clients a month
- Milton Keynes · UK-wide remote
What you get with Nexus
Your January number, known in the autumn
The personal tax position is forecast with the company year end, so the payment date holds no surprises.
Dividend headroom you can check before you draw
You see how much is left before the next rate band applies, before the money leaves the company.
One return prepared from books that reconcile
Salary, dividends and benefits come straight from the company records, so nothing is reconstructed from bank statements in January.
Three decisions that end up on the director’s tax return
Each of these is made during the year and priced in January.
- Dividends
“I took the dividends I needed month by month. Nobody told me I had crossed into the higher rate until the return was done.”
The tax was correct and avoidable. Timing the draw across two tax years would have changed the number.
- Tax bill
“My accountant sent the return on 28 January with a figure I had not budgeted for, plus a payment on account I had never heard of.”
The first bill was manageable. The payment on account on top of it was what emptied the personal account.
- Switch
“I was on my fourth account manager in two years and none of them had looked at how I pay myself since incorporation.”
The salary and dividend split had been copied forward every year without anyone checking it against the current rates.
- Day 90
What changes once the advice is in the room
The company return and the director’s return get planned together, because they are the same decision. You are told your corporation tax and dividend position before the year end, while you can still act on it. The January filing becomes an administrative step rather than a reveal.
Quick check · no email
If your accountant can’t tell you what your personal tax bill will be, whether your dividends are covered, and get back to you this week, you have the wrong accountant
Answer three questions about the accountant you use now.
Question 1 of 3
Could they tell you this week what your January personal tax bill will be?
Could they show you how much dividend headroom is left this tax year?
Could they confirm your self assessment is already being drafted from the company books?
That gap is real, and it is where surprise bills come from. The set-up review checks your structure, VAT scheme, salary and dividends and software, then tells you what to change.
Your position is reasonable and one area is unchecked. Every new Nexus client gets a full review of structure, VAT scheme, salary and dividends and software when they join, so that area stops being a guess.
You are well served and there is no reason to move. Read the guides if you want a second view on the salary and dividend split.
A January return compared with a return prepared through the year
Both get filed on time. Only one lets you change the number.
The year-end only approach
Records are requested after the tax year has closed.
Dividends are reconstructed from bank statements.
The figure arrives days before the payment date.
Payments on account are explained after they are due.
Director self assessment at Nexus
Salary, dividends and benefits are recorded as they happen.
Dividend headroom is checked before money is drawn.
The personal tax figure is forecast alongside the company year end.
Payments on account are budgeted for months ahead.
Eight things worth checking about your own set-up
Answer these about your company and your personal return.
- 01
Do you know your January tax bill before Christmas?
If not, the return is being prepared too late to plan around.
- 02
Are dividends voted and minuted when taken?
Reconstructing them later is where errors and enquiries start.
- 03
Has your salary level been reviewed this tax year?
Copying last year forward can cost you once thresholds move.
- 04
Do you know your remaining dividend headroom today?
Drawing without it is how directors cross a rate band by accident.
- 05
Are payments on account budgeted for in the company?
The second bill catches out more directors than the first.
- 06
Is a company car or other benefit reported correctly?
Benefits missed on payroll land on the personal return instead.
- 07
Does anyone check your VAT scheme against your actual costs?
Low input VAT usually means the default scheme is the wrong one.
- 08
Can you get an answer from your accountant this week?
Advice you cannot reach in time is advice you cannot use.
What sits around the director’s return
The return is one output of a routine that runs all year.
Salary and dividend planning
The split is reviewed against current rates and your company profit, then adjusted while it still changes the outcome.
Corporation tax a month ahead
The company bill is forecast before the year end, so the money is there and the decision is yours.
Bookkeeping and payroll on a routine
Dividends, salary and benefits are current, so the personal return is built from figures that already agree.
Entry 01
What the review found for one new client
One entry from the Nexus proof library.
Clients described by type. Names withheld.
What clients say
How the director’s return is handled across the first ninety days
Four steps, each ending with something you know rather than something we filed.
We know what your last return said
Professional clearance and records collection are handled by Nasir. Your previous returns, payments on account and dividend history are read before anything else starts.
Salary, dividends and benefits are recorded as they happen
Bookkeeping and payroll get a routine, so every dividend voted and every benefit provided is on record the month it occurs.
You see the personal number, not only the company one
Corporation tax and dividend headroom are forecast together, so you know what the company owes and what you will owe personally.
The return is drafted long before January
Your self assessment is prepared from books that reconcile, with the payment dates and any payments on account confirmed in writing.
Who this is not for
Start-ups in their first or second year, where there is little to plan with yet.
Sole traders turning over under £150,000, unless incorporation is clearly the right move.
Property-only landlords and cash businesses.
Owners buying on price alone, who want a filing service and no conversation.
If you are an established limited company, the set-up review will tell you where you stand before either of us commits.
Questions directors ask about their own return
Is director self assessment included in the monthly fee?
Yes. One monthly fee covers year-end accounts, corporation tax, the confirmation statement, VAT, bookkeeping, payroll and pensions, and the director’s self assessment. Proactive planning is included on a fair-use basis, covering VAT scheme selection, salary and dividend planning and a corporation tax forecast a month before the bill lands. Capital gains tax returns are charged separately.
We already have an accountant. Why would we move?
Most directors move because nobody has reviewed how they pay themselves since incorporation, or because the personal tax figure arrives days before it is due. Nexus reviews structure, VAT scheme, salary and dividends and software when you join, and tells you what should change, even when the answer is nothing.
Do we have to change our accounting software?
No. Nexus works with the software you already use, provided the records can be kept current. The review looks at whether the routine around the software is working, because the director’s return is only as reliable as the bookkeeping underneath it. If a change would genuinely help, Nasir will say so and explain why.
What happens with our current accountant when we switch?
Nasir handles it. Professional clearance is requested, records are collected and the first-year timetable is set, so you are not chasing your old firm yourself. There is no separate charge for the handover. Your previous returns and payments on account are read before your next self assessment is prepared.
When do you prepare a director self assessment return?
Work begins as soon as the tax year closes, using records kept current through the year. The aim is to have the figure confirmed well before January, so any payment, including payments on account, is budgeted for. Dividend and salary decisions are reviewed during the year, not after the year has ended.
Do you work with directors outside Milton Keynes?
Yes. Nexus is based in Milton Keynes and works with established limited companies across the UK remotely. Nasir rarely needs to meet in person. Local territory includes Bletchley, Newport Pagnell, Stony Stratford, Bedford, Northampton and Luton, and the same routine applies wherever the company is based.
Three ways to take the next step
Book the set-up review
Nasir reviews your structure, VAT scheme, salary and dividends and software, then gives you a written list of what to change and why.
See if Nexus fits 02 · A question firstHave a question about your own return?
Call or email and Nasir replies himself, usually the same week.
Ask Nasir a question 03 · Still decidingStill deciding
The guides explain how salary, dividends and the January bill fit together before you speak to anyone.
Read the guides →