East Midlands’ Most Trusted Chartered Accountants
Let’s be straight with you. Nottingham is a city that gets on with it. It doesn’t shout about itself the way some places do — but look closer and you’ll find one of the UK’s most genuinely diverse economies. Boots has its world headquarters here. Paul Smith designed his first suit here. The creative and digital quarter around Hockley is producing businesses that are quietly excellent. And the East Midlands Airport, just down the A453, handles more overnight freight than almost any other UK airport outside Heathrow. This is a city that works — and its businesses deserve accountants who work just as hard.
Hayes Chartered Certified Accountants and Tax Consultants serves Nottingham, Derby, Leicester, Mansfield and all of the East Midlands. Self-assessment from £150+VAT. Limited company packages from £75/month. All services fixed-fee, agreed upfront. Free consultation — no hard sell, ever.
Nottingham’s Economy — The Real Picture
Hayes Chartered Certified Accountants and Tax Consultants serves Nottingham, Derby, Leicester, Mansfield and all of the East Midlands
Most Nottingham businesses need the same core services — self-assessment or limited company accounts, VAT returns under Making Tax Digital, payroll, and corporation tax. But what makes Nottingham different is the sectors that drive it. Boots contractors and pharma supply chain businesses need IR35 assessments and R&D tax credit reviews. The Hockley creative quarter has designers, photographers, and digital agencies who need cloud bookkeeping and cash flow management. Nottingham’s enormous student rental market — one of the UK’s biggest — means thousands of local landlords who need Section 24 advice and capital gains planning. Hayes covers every one of these needs, and every service is fixed-fee from day one.
Nottingham Tax Consultants
What do Nottingham Boots contractors need to know about IR35?
Boots is a large private sector employer — it determines IR35 status. We review every contract before you sign.
How much does a self-assessment cost in Nottingham?
From £150+VAT at Hayes Chartered Certified Accountants and Tax Consultants serves Nottingham, Derby, Leicester, Mansfield and all of the East Midlands — fixed price, agreed before any work starts.
Do Nottingham student landlords need an accountant?
Yes — with 55,000 students and Section 24 in full effect, getting landlord tax right matters more than ever.
Can Nottingham creative businesses claim R&D tax credits?
Digital and tech businesses often qualify — software development, process innovation, and product design all count.
What is the cheapest accountant near Nottingham?
Hayes Chartered Certifed Accoutnants and Tax Consultants – Advisors offers limited company packages from £75/month — fully managed, ACCA-qualified, no hidden fees.
Accountants & Tax Advisors in Nottingham
Nottingham has always been a city of makers and doers. The lace industry that made it famous in the 19th century planted a culture of craftsmanship and commercial confidence that you can still feel in the Lace Market today — where the Victorian warehouses that once held lace exports are now studios, agencies, and co-working spaces housing some of the East Midlands’ most interesting creative businesses. Paul Smith opened his first shop in Byard Lane. The city that invented Robin Hood has a thing for levelling the playing field.
Today, Nottingham’s economy is genuinely diverse. The pharmaceutical giant Boots — founded here in 1849 and still headquartered at its extraordinary Beeston campus — employs thousands directly and anchors an enormous supply chain of contractors, consultants, and specialist service businesses. The University of Nottingham and Nottingham Trent together bring over 55,000 students into the city every year, creating one of the UK’s largest and most active HMO and student rental markets. The Hockley and Sneinton creative quarter has become a genuine destination for digital agencies, designers, and tech startups who want affordable studio space and a proper community around them. And just down the A453, East Midlands Airport handles freight for Amazon, DHL, and UPS around the clock — generating logistics and supply chain businesses that need reliable, commercial accounting.
What Nottingham businesses often tell us they’ve struggled with is finding accountants who actually understand their sector — not just tick the compliance boxes. A Boots contractor who needs a proper IR35 review has different needs from a Hockley graphic designer managing their first VAT return, or a Mapperley landlord wondering whether their student HMO portfolio needs restructuring. We’ve built Hayes around that reality. One firm, every service, proper expertise across every sector — and prices that don’t make you wince.
Semantic Topic Cluster — Nottingham Tax
Everything Nottingham Businesses Need
Whether you need a one-off self-assessment or a full annual accounting package, every Hayes service is available to Nottingham and East Midlands clients. No referrals to other firms, no gaps in coverage — just one team who handles everything.
For Nottingham sole traders, freelancers, landlords, and employees with additional income. We file every year, claim every deduction, and handle any HMRC queries on your behalf.
Statutory accounts prepared to HMRC and Companies House standards for Nottingham limited companies — filed on time, every time.
Cloud bookkeeping on Xero, QuickBooks or FreeAgent. We keep your records clean, your books reconciled, and your reports meaningful month after month.
Making Tax Digital compliance for Nottingham VAT-registered businesses. We set up your software, manage quarterly submissions, and advise on the right VAT scheme for your sector.
Accurate PAYE payroll for Nottingham employers of any size. RTI submissions, National Insurance, and statutory payments handled precisely every pay run — you never have to think about it.
We set up and manage workplace pension auto-enrolment for Nottingham employers — scheme selection, employee letters, ongoing compliance, and staging date management all handled.
We calculate and file your corporation tax return, maximising relief through R&D credits, capital allowances on equipment, and losses carried back or forward to reduce the amount you owe.
Monthly profit and loss, balance sheet, and KPI reporting for Nottingham businesses that need to make decisions based on actual numbers — not last year’s annual accounts.
If you’ve ever been profitable on paper but overdrawn in your bank, you understand why cash flow management matters. We build forecasts that show you exactly where your money is going and when.
Annual budgets and multi-year financial models for Nottingham businesses planning for growth, investment, or a business sale. We build the numbers — you make better decisions.
Nottingham has 55,000 students and one of the UK’s biggest HMO markets. We handle landlord self-assessment, Section 24 planning, HMO licence deductibility, and capital gains on disposals.
Selling a Nottingham property or business? We calculate your CGT liability, identify every available relief, and help you plan the timing and structure of the transaction to minimise what you pay.
More Nottingham workers are owed tax refunds than HMRC would like to admit. We identify overpaid tax — from uniform allowances to professional subscriptions — and claim it back for you fast.
Nottingham and the East Midlands have a huge construction workforce. We file CIS returns for subcontractors and recover overpaid tax deductions — often thousands of pounds per year.
MTD is here and it’s expanding. We migrate Nottingham businesses to compliant software, manage digital submissions, and keep you ahead of what’s coming next from HMRC.
Starting a Nottingham business? We incorporate your company, advise on the best structure, register you for VAT and PAYE, and set up your cloud accounting — all in one go.
Strategic tax planning for Nottingham businesses and individuals — salary vs dividends, share schemes, exit planning, and R&D credits. We look ahead so you don’t get caught out.
Confirmation statements, director changes, share transfers, and registered address services. The stuff you need done properly so Companies House doesn’t come knocking.
Nottingham-Specific Expertise
Boots employs thousands of contractors at its Beeston campus — and since April 2021, Boots as a large private sector organisation determines IR35 status for every engagement, not the contractor. If you’re contracting at Boots and operating through a limited company without a proper IR35 review, you are taking a significant risk. HMRC can investigate going back years. We review your contract in detail, assess your working practices against the key IR35 tests of personal service, control, and mutuality of obligation, and give you a written status determination that stands up if HMRC comes calling. Most Boots contractors we review are genuinely outside IR35 — but that position needs to be documented carefully.
With over 55,000 students spread across the University of Nottingham and Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham has one of the largest student rental markets in the UK. Lenton, Dunkirk, Beeston, and Mapperley are packed with HMOs. And while the yields can be excellent, the tax picture has become genuinely complex over the last few years. Section 24 has removed direct mortgage interest deductibility for higher-rate taxpayers, HMO licensing costs are deductible but property improvements are not, and anyone thinking of selling a Nottingham HMO needs capital gains planning before they put it on the market. We’ve helped dozens of Nottingham landlords get their tax position sorted — and most of them wish they’d called us sooner.
The Hockley quarter and the wider Lace Market area have become home to some of Nottingham’s most interesting small businesses — graphic designers, photographers, independent fashion labels, web agencies, music producers, and creative consultants who’ve built something genuinely their own. The tax needs of this community are real but often overlooked by generic accounting firms. Variable income, project-based work, equipment depreciation, home office expenses, and the VAT threshold question — ‘should I register or stay below it?’ — are all live issues. We speak creative business fluently and give practical, honest advice that helps rather than overwhelms.
East Midlands Airport is the UK’s third-largest cargo airport — handling overnight freight for Amazon, DHL, UPS, and TNT around the clock. The logistics and supply chain businesses clustered along the A453 and the M1 junction 23a corridor have specific VAT needs: zero-rating on international freight transport, warehousing VAT, import and export duties, and the complex question of when VAT applies to goods in transit. If you’re in the logistics business near Castle Donington or Kegworth, you need an accountant who understands these rules — not someone Googling them for the first time when your VAT return is due.
The University of Nottingham is consistently ranked in the world’s top 100 for research — and it produces a steady stream of commercial spin-outs in pharmaceuticals, engineering, food science, and sustainable energy. If you’re a founder who’s spun out from Nottingham and is spending money on research and development, you should be claiming R&D tax credits. The HMRC merged scheme now gives loss-making R&D-intensive companies a payable credit of up to 27p per £1 of qualifying expenditure. We assess your qualifying activity, identify all eligible costs, and submit your claim — typically within 4–6 weeks.
Nottingham has a significant construction sector — from the residential developers building on the city fringe to the small tradespeople handling kitchens, bathrooms, and extensions across Gedling, Arnold, and Carlton. CIS deductions are taken at 20% or 30% from every payment a subcontractor receives. Over a full year, most CIS subcontractors have had far more tax deducted than they actually owe — and that money sits with HMRC until you file your return and claim it back. We handle this from start to finish. You tell us what jobs you did. We handle the rest and get your refund back as fast as possible.
Covering the East Midlands
Our service covers Derby, Leicester, Mansfield, and Northampton — each with their own economic character and their own tax challenges. We work remotely, so wherever you are in the East Midlands, we can serve you with the same ACCA expertise and fixed monthly pricing.
FAQs
Yes — and you’re right to take it seriously. Boots is a large private sector organisation, which means it’s legally responsible for determining the IR35 status of contractors working through their own limited companies. Since the 2021 off-payroll working reforms, Boots — like most large employers — determines whether your contract falls inside or outside IR35, and they issue a Status Determination Statement (SDS) accordingly. If they’ve told you your contract is outside IR35, that’s a good start — but it doesn’t mean you’re completely protected if the paperwork doesn’t match your actual working practices. We review your contract and your day-to-day working arrangements against the three key IR35 tests — personal service, control, and mutuality of obligation — and give you a written opinion that protects your position if HMRC ever investigates. Most Boots contractors who come to us are genuinely outside IR35. But that position needs to be properly documented.
This is probably the biggest question we get from Nottingham landlords right now. Before April 2017, if you had a mortgage on your rental property, you could deduct the interest directly from your rental income before calculating your tax. That’s gone. Since Section 24 was fully phased in, you can no longer deduct mortgage interest from your rental profits. Instead, you get a 20% basic rate tax credit on the interest paid. For basic rate taxpayers, this makes little difference. For higher-rate taxpayers — anyone earning over £50,270 from all sources — the effect can be dramatic. Some Nottingham landlords we’ve spoken to have seen their effective tax rate on rental income nearly double. The main option available is to move properties into a limited company, where the old pre-Section 24 rules still apply. Whether that makes sense for you depends on your personal income, the number of properties, the mortgage position, and your long-term plans. We do this analysis properly — not as a sales pitch for incorporation, but as an honest number-crunching exercise that tells you what actually makes financial sense.
More than most people realise. As a self-employed creative in Nottingham, your allowable expenses include: your home office costs (either using the flat rate or a proportion of actual costs like heat, light, and mortgage interest), any professional software subscriptions like Adobe Creative Cloud, professional membership fees, your mobile phone (the business portion), equipment like cameras, computers, and tablets (through annual investment allowance), professional indemnity insurance, travel costs to client meetings (not commuting), business banking fees, marketing and website costs, training and professional development, and relevant books and publications. What you can’t claim includes your own drawings, entertaining clients (no, even if it genuinely was a working dinner), and costs that are partly personal. We set up Xero for most of our Hockley creative clients and categorise everything so nothing gets missed and nothing ends up in front of HMRC incorrectly.
We’re asked this regularly and we’re happy to be upfront about it. A self-assessment tax return for a straightforward sole trader or employee with additional income starts from £150+VAT. If your return is more complex — rental income, capital gains, overseas income, or shares — it’ll be a bit more, and we’ll tell you the exact figure before we start. For limited companies, our full annual package — including year-end statutory accounts, corporation tax return, director’s self-assessment, payroll, and Companies House filing — starts from £75 per month. That’s everything. No hourly rates, no ‘additional fees for this or that’. You know exactly what you’re paying from day one. If you want to add bookkeeping, VAT returns, or management accounts on top, we quote those separately and clearly. There’s a free initial consultation where we work out what you need before we quote anything.
This one’s simple in theory but surprisingly often left undone. As a CIS subcontractor, your contractors deduct tax at 20% (or 30% if you’re not registered) from every payment before they pay you. Over a full year, most subcontractors pay far more tax through CIS deductions than they actually owe when their full income and expenses are taken into account. The refund comes through filing your annual self-assessment tax return, where we account for all your income, deduct all allowable business expenses — tools, materials, van costs, workwear, phone, mileage — and calculate what your actual tax liability should be. The difference between what you’ve had deducted and what you actually owe comes back to you from HMRC, usually within a few weeks of filing. We handle the entire process. You tell us roughly what you earned and who you worked for. We do the rest.
What Nottingham Clients Say
“I’ve been contracting at Boots for four years and had never had a proper IR35 review. Hayes went through my contract line by line, confirmed I was outside IR35, and documented everything properly. That’s genuinely peace of mind I didn’t have before. And their monthly fee is less than I was spending on an accountant who was doing half the work.”
Mark H.IT Contractor, Boots HQ, Beeston, Nottingham“I own four HMOs in Lenton and the Section 24 changes had genuinely scared me. Hayes sat down with me, ran through the numbers properly, and showed me that for my situation, incorporating two of the properties into a company made sense and the others didn’t. That kind of honest advice is exactly what I needed — not a one-size-fits-all answer.”
Priya T.HMO Landlord, Lenton, Nottingham“I run a small graphic design studio in the Lace Market and my previous accountant charged me hourly and I never really knew what I owed until the invoice arrived. Hayes gave me a fixed monthly price, set me up on Xero, and I actually understand my finances now. Found me over £2,600 in expenses I’d been missing. Absolutely recommend them.”
Sophie G.Graphic Designer, Lace Market, NottinghamNo jargon, no surprises, no clock-watching. Just expert accounting at fixed prices that make sense for a Nottingham business. Book your free consultation today — we’ll spend 30 minutes understanding your situation and tell you exactly what we can do for you and what it will cost.
Stop juggling your finances alone. Hayes Chartered Certified Accountants and Tax Consultants offers everything a business or individual needs under one roof — Bookkeeping, VAT returns, payroll, self-assessment tax returns, pension auto enrolment, year end accounts, corporation tax, capital gains tax, CIS tax returns, tax rebates, landlord taxation, management accounts, cash flow management, budgeting and forecasting, tax advisory, company formation, registered address, company secretarial services, and Making Tax Digital (MTD) compliance. One team. Every service. Zero hidden fees.
Book your free consultation today and find out how much we could save you.
