August 2026
Blind Person’s Allowance corrected, and our sole trader vs limited company answer has changed
- Blind Person’s Allowance is £3,250 for 2026/27, not the £3,130 we were using — that was last year’s figure. The Blind Person’s Allowance calculator was also handing back only 20% of the allowance to higher-rate taxpayers, showing roughly half the real saving. A 40% taxpayer now correctly sees £1,300 a year, and a 45% taxpayer £1,462.50.
- Incorporating no longer cuts your tax bill if you draw everything out. Our sole trader vs limited company tools were charging a flat 25% Corporation Tax with no marginal relief and taxing every dividend at the basic 10.75%. With both corrected, the sole trader comes out ahead across £20,000–£100,000 of profit — by about £5,300 at £100,000. The case for a company now rests on liability protection, retaining profit and pension contributions rather than on tax alone.
- Contractor day rates were coming out about 15% too low. The day rate calculator assumed a flat 25% uplift over your target take-home instead of solving for it. To take home £60,000 over 220 days you need £405 a day, not the £345 we were quoting. The IR35 calculator now also deducts employer NI from the inside-IR35 side, which it had been leaving out.
- Our Building Regulations U-value summary mixed up two different Part L targets. The insulation calculator quoted 0.30 W/m²K for cavity wall insulation and 0.18 for a floor. Those are the standards for building a new element, such as an extension. When you upgrade something the house already has, Approved Document L asks for 0.55 for a filled cavity wall and 0.25 for a floor. The loft figure (0.16) and the replacement window figure (1.4, or a Window Energy Rating of Band B) were right and stay as they are — including under the 2026 edition of Approved Document L, which takes effect on 24 March 2027.
- Emergency pension tax and tax refund estimates were starting the 45% rate £12,570 of income too early (48% in Scotland), overstating the bill by up to £628 — £377 for Scottish taxpayers. Both are corrected.