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alto.

ACCA accountants for UK creative and marketing agencies. Specialists in agency cash flow, retainer math, and director tax planning.

Alto Accounting Ltd86–90 Paul Street
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Home/Resources/Tax Health Check
Free diagnostic · 2026/27

Score your agency’s tax health in five minutes.

Ten questions across five areas — corporation tax structure, director pay, IR35, capital allowances, and R&D. Get a 0–100 score, banded verdict, and up to five personalised findings with the saving range typical for an agency at your stage.

Start the diagnosticBook a 15-min review
10 questions · 5 areas · ~5 minutes
Saving ranges grounded in 2026/27 UK allowances
Personalised PDF report by email
DiagnosticScore · 5 areas · 2026/27
SCORE62 / 100STRUCTUREPAYIR35CAPITALR&DDIAGNOSTIC2 FINDINGS · 2026/27
10 questions · 5 areas · 0–100 score
Quick read

TL;DR — Agency Tax Health Check

  • 🏛️Year-end timing and Employer pension contributions are the biggest Corporation Tax levers we score.Structure
  • 💼Optimal director split for 2026/27 is usually £12,570 salary plus dividends. The new bands are 10.75% / 35.75%.Pay
  • 📋Medium and large agencies engaging Ltd contractors must issue a written Status Determination Statement.IR35
  • 🏗️AIA gives 100% first-year deduction on £1m of qualifying capital — a 25% Corporation Tax saving on every £1.Capital
  • 🧪Internal tools, automations and bespoke client systems often qualify for R&D credits at 27% (or 14.5% intensive).R&D
Quick reference · keep reading for the full breakdown
What we diagnose

Five areas, two questions each.

The diagnostic covers the levers we typically find under-used at UK agencies between £200k and £5m of revenue.

Corporation tax structure

Year-end timing and corporation tax planning levers.

01

Salary & dividend mix

How you extract profit from the company.

02

IR35 footprint

Off-payroll exposure across your contractor base.

03

Capital allowances

AIA and first-year claims on equipment and fit-out.

04

R&D activity

In-house development that may qualify for tax credits.

05

Built by Alto Accounting — ACCA chartered accountants specialising in UK agencies

Diagnostic
0 / 10 answered
Structure
Pay
IR35
Capital
R&D
01Corporation tax structure
Question 1 / 10

When does your accounting year end?

A 31 March year-end means your Corporation Tax payment falls one month before the Self Assessment deadline. Other dates can spread tax payments more evenly.

On the desk

How to read your tax health score

  • 10-49: Needs review. A score below 50 typically reflects multiple structural gaps — a higher PAYE salary when the optimal mix is salary plus dividends, no employer pension contributions, no income shifting to a spouse, and underused capital allowances. The findings page will surface the three or four that matter most. The combined value usually exceeds £10,000 a year for an agency at £300k-£1m revenue.
  • 250-74: Room to optimise. Solid foundations with two or three opportunities to tighten up. Common findings at this band: AIA under-claimed on recent fit-out, R&D activity that has not been formally claimed, or a basic-rate dividend split that could be more aggressive given current profit. The 15-minute review tells you which of the findings actually applies to your structure once we see the numbers.
  • 375+: Strong. Your structure is in good shape across the five areas. Findings at this band are second-order optimisations — getting your year-end timing right for cash flow, exploring R&D-intensive status if you build software heavily, or reviewing alphabet share structures. Worth running the diagnostic again after a major change in revenue, headcount, or ownership.
  • 4What the saving ranges mean. Each finding has a typical annual value range. The low end reflects an agency in the £200k-£500k revenue band with one director. The high end reflects an agency in the £1m-£5m revenue band with multiple shareholders and material capex or development spend. The actual number depends on your year-end profit, prior-year tax position, and what your existing accountant has already addressed.
Reference

Rates & allowances behind the findings.

All figures verified to 2026/27 UK rates.

Corporation Tax

19% on profits under £50k. 25% on profits over £250k. Marginal relief between.

25%

Annual Investment Allowance

£1,000,000 a year of qualifying capex deducted in full. 25% Corporation Tax saving on every £1.

£1M

R&D credit

27% credit on qualifying SME expenditure under the merged scheme. 14.5% for R&D-intensive companies.

27%

Dividend tax

10.75% basic rate, 35.75% higher rate for 2026/27. £500 annual allowance.

10.75%

Employer NI

15% above £5,000 secondary threshold. £10,500 Employment Allowance available for most agencies.

15%

VAT threshold

£90,000 of taxable turnover triggers compulsory registration. All filings under Making Tax Digital.

£90k
Common questions

Frequently asked questions

What is the Agency Tax Health Check?
It is a free 10-question diagnostic designed for UK agency directors. We score five areas of your corporate tax position — year-end structure, salary and dividend mix, IR35 exposure, capital allowances, and R&D activity — then surface up to five personalised findings with the saving range typically seen at your stage. The diagnostic takes around 5 minutes and you get a personalised PDF report with the findings expanded.
How accurate are the saving ranges in the findings?
Each saving range is grounded in current UK 2026/27 allowances: Annual Investment Allowance £1m at 25% Corporation Tax, R&D credit at 27% on qualifying expenditure, dividend tax bands of 10.75% basic and 35.75% higher, Employer NI threshold of £5,000 at 15% above, and pension contributions saving combined Corporation Tax plus Employer NI. Ranges reflect what we typically see for an agency at the stage suggested by your answers, not a promise of outcome. Confirm with a qualified accountant before acting.
Will my answers be shared or stored?
Your answers are used to calculate your score, generate findings, and produce your personalised PDF. We capture your email so we can send the report and follow up if you want a 15-minute review. Nothing is shared with third parties. Unsubscribe at any time with one click in any email we send.
Who is the diagnostic for?
UK marketing, creative, and digital agency directors operating through a limited company. The questions assume you are a director and shareholder paying yourself out of company profits, with one or more freelancers in the supply chain. Findings will still be useful for solo operators, but the value is greatest at agencies with £200k+ revenue.
What happens after I get my findings?
You can act on them yourself, take them to your existing accountant, or book a free 15-minute review with us. The review walks through which findings actually apply to your specific structure, what the real numbers look like once we factor in your year-end and profit level, and whether moving on them is worth the work. We email a 3-step nurture sequence at days 3, 7 and 14 with related calculators and tools.
How is this different from a calculator?
A calculator answers a specific question with one number. The Health Check is a diagnostic across five areas — it surfaces opportunities you may not have known to look for. Where a calculator helps you optimise something you are already doing, the diagnostic finds gaps you have not yet noticed. Run the calculators afterwards on the findings that matter to you.
Keep going

Related calculators

Salary & dividend calculator

Model the optimal director extraction split with the new 2026/27 dividend bands.

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R&D tax credit calculator

Estimate what your in-house development could be worth under the merged SME scheme.

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IR35 status checker

Run individual contractor engagements through the same factors HMRC uses.

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Specialist review

Walk through your findings with us.

Free 15-minute review with a chartered accountant who specialises in UK marketing, creative and digital agencies. We confirm which findings actually apply to your specific structure.

Book a 15 min callSee pricing