When a trade ends, terminal loss relief carries the final year's loss back three years. When it incorporates, s.86 rescues stranded losses against your salary and dividends from the company.
A trading loss in your first four years can be carried back against the income you earned in the three years before you started, refunding tax you have already paid.
Employed or self-employed? Your label does not decide it, the facts do. Understand how HMRC judges status, the NIC and tax differences, and the cost of getting it wrong.
The hardest part of self-employed tax is the timing, not the amount. Learn how payments on account, balancing payments, interest, and late-payment penalties work, and why the January bill is so big.