Case Studies | Results
Client Results: Three Real Case Studies from Your Tax Help Accountants
Tax advice is easy to promise and hard to evidence. So here are three recent cases, anonymised but real, showing what actually happens between "first worried phone call" and "sorted". Different problems, same process: establish the facts, fix the filings, claim everything legitimate, deal with HMRC directly.
Case 1: The Harrow scaffolder and the 11-day CIS refund
The situation: a scaffolder working across Harrow and Watford, 20 per cent CIS deductions all year, £7,400 sitting with HMRC. The previous year he had filed himself in January with two missing deduction statements and waited nine weeks for his money.
What we did: collected his CIS statements in the first week of April, reconciled every deduction against what his contractors had reported to HMRC, claimed his mileage, tools and materials, and filed on 14 April with bank details set for BACS.
The result: a £3,250 refund in his account on 25 April, 11 days after filing. Same trade, same client as the nine-week year; the difference was timing and clean figures. The full timeline logic is in our guide to how long a CIS refund takes.
Case 2: The driving instructor who stopped trading and got £1,600 in penalties
The situation: a self-employed driving instructor took a full-time job in 2024, assumed his taxes moved with him, and never told HMRC he had stopped trading. Eighteen months later: a £1,600 penalty notice for two unfiled returns he did not know he owed.
What we did: filed both outstanding returns immediately (tax due: almost nothing), formally closed his self-employment record, and submitted a reasonable excuse appeal explaining the genuine misunderstanding.
The result: HMRC accepted the appeal and cancelled £1,400 of the £1,600. Had he called us when he stopped trading, the cost would have been zero, which is why we wrote the step-by-step guide to telling HMRC you have stopped being self-employed.
Case 3: The web developer's £19,000 corporation tax bill, reduced by £5,800
The situation: a Stanmore web development company with £85,000 of profit, heading for roughly £19,000 of corporation tax, with the director taking everything as salary and dividends and no planning in place.
What we did: three legitimate, boring, effective changes. An employer pension contribution of £20,000 (deductible in full), bringing forward planned equipment purchases before year end to use the Annual Investment Allowance, and confirming his salary structure was already optimal.
The result: £5,800 of corporation tax saved, effective rate down from 22.4 to 16.1 per cent, nothing aggressive anywhere in the file. The mechanics are explained in our guide to corporation tax rates for small companies.
Three different problems, one pattern: the bill people fear is almost always bigger than the bill they get, provided someone establishes the real figures and claims what the rules already allow. Clients rate this work 4.5 stars on Google.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are these case studies real?
Yes. They are real client outcomes with names removed and minor identifying details changed for confidentiality. Results obviously vary with circumstances; the point of each story is the process, which is repeatable.
How quickly can a CIS refund actually arrive?
Filed in April with deductions fully reconciled to contractor statements, refunds routinely arrive within two weeks. Filed in January with messy records, the same refund can take two to three months. Timing and clean figures are most of the difference.
Can late-filing penalties really be cancelled?
Often, partially or fully, where there is a reasonable excuse or where returns were demanded that were not actually needed. Penalties for late returns that show no tax due are appealable more often than people assume. It depends on facts, which is what the free call establishes.
What does it cost to get this kind of help?
A fixed fee agreed before any work starts, based on what your case needs. No percentages taken from refunds, no hourly meters. Most clients pay the fee out of the money the work recovers or saves.
Your situation probably looks like one of these
Every case here started with a free 15-minute call from someone who expected worse news than they got. Fixed fee agreed up front, everything handled online, HMRC dealt with for you.
Or email info@yourtaxhelp.co.uk | yourtaxhelp.co.uk
General guidance only. Not personal tax advice. Contact us for advice specific to your situation. All figures are for the 2026/27 tax year unless otherwise stated.