Limited company vs sole trader status?

[Freddyfruitba...]

My accountant tells me I can save money overall by changing from sole trader to limited company status. I have no reason to doubt that, but I have two concerns about going down this road. First, the amount of extra admin involved and secondly, the fear of sticking my head above the parapet, raising a red flag to HMRC and ending up the subject of one of their investigations, the thought of which makes my blood run cold.

I have no employees/colleagues, and my work is desk-based with very few business-related expenses.

Anyone who's BTBTGTTS care to comment, please?
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KC100->CB100N->CB250RS--------->DL650AL2->R1200RS->R1250RS

[Pjay]

[Freddyfruitba...]

[Pjay]

[winz]

I was a Sole Trader for 3 years and Limited for 2 now.

I don't have much extra admin at all (I too am a one man band, have a studio and low overheads), as my accountant sorts all of that out for me.

The savings being Limited aren't as good as they used to be, so what's the reason you want to go Limited, to reduce your liabilities?

A sidenote, if you're looking at buying property in the near future then I'd stay as a Sole Trader as I got stitched up a bit in that sense and not being able to borrow as much as I thought due to the way my income is paid.
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Current Bikes: BMW K1200S
Previous: Honda CBR929RR, Honda CBR1100XX, Honda CB600F

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[Freddyfruitba...]

[Shaft]

I would get some other accountants to provide a second, third or even fourth opinion.

A company I work with were advised to go ltd and it did end up as advantageous, because (as mentioned by mpd) it opened some business doors for them, but it took a few years of hefty accountancy fee increases and more onerous paperwork chores.

If your business is now part time and not providing your main income, I would question whether it's worth the hassle, unless it's a business that could lead you into some gigantic personal liabilities, if it all goes tits up.

Otherwise, it could just be a licence to print money for your accountant.
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Things get better with age; I'm close to being magnificent........
20 RE Interceptor, 83 Z1100A3, 83 GS650 Katana
WooHoo, I'm a Man Point Millionaire! https://www.bikechatforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=234035

[BTTD]

Limited should be a lower tax bill if you do it right.
Salary up to personal tax allowance, and then dividends up to higher rate limit.
Salary = 0%
Dividends = 19% corp tax + 7.5% income tax.
Note, the first £2k of dividends aren't taxed at all either.

That's still cheaper than paying income tax + NI.

As to triggering an investigation, you're not doing anything wrong, don't worry about it.

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[BTTD]