⚕️ Healthcare specialists · NHS & private practice

Healthcare accountants for London clinicians. Pension, IR35, partnership.

NHS GP partner navigating the annual allowance taper? Locum doctor with multiple agency contracts and an IR35 question? Private dentist incorporating to optimise tax? GP or dental practice running a partnership return? We work with the full spread of clinical professionals — and we know the pension, IR35 and partnership rules that hit healthcare hardest.

★★★★★ 4.8/5 from 100+ reviews · NHS pension & IR35 specialists · King's Cross N7
£495
Annual Allowance Taper Review
£395
IR35 Contract Review
£1,200
Tax Planning Workshop
Mon–Sat
10am to 7pm
Why healthcare needs a specialist accountant

Clinical tax has its own rules. Generalist firms miss the big saves.

NHS pension annual allowance taper. IR35 for locums. VAT exemption (not zero-rating) and what that means for cosmetic mix. Capital allowances on six-figure equipment outlays. Partnership accounting. Four problems below show up in every onboarding from a clinician who has been with a generalist firm.

Symptom #1

"I'm getting a £15K pension tax charge and nobody warned me."

The pension annual allowance for 2026 is £60,000 but it tapers to £10,000 for adjusted income above £260,000. NHS pension growth (the year's accrual value) counts towards the allowance — high-earning clinicians breach it routinely. The charge is at marginal rate (often 45%+). Carry-forward from prior three years and scheme pays elections both help, but you have to model it before year-end. Generalist firms rarely run the calculation.

Symptom #2

"My locum agency assignment looks like IR35 and I have no defence ready."

NHS bodies have been the most active IR35 enforcers in the country. If your assignment fails the CEST tests — agency dictates hours, you wear NHS-issued ID, you cannot send a substitute, you sit in the rota — the income is taxed as employment with no salary/dividend benefit. We review every significant contract against CEST, draft amendments, and document working practices so you have a paper trail.

Symptom #3

"I bought a £40K dental chair and my accountant just put it on depreciation."

Medical and dental equipment qualifies for the Annual Investment Allowance — up to £1M of immediate 100% deduction against trading profits. A £40K chair correctly claimed saves £18K of tax in year one for a 45% taxpayer. Generalist firms often miss the AIA election or default to slow depreciation, which spreads the relief over years and costs you the time-value.

Symptom #4

"My private practice mixes cosmetic work and NHS — I have no idea about VAT."

Therapeutic medical and dental services are VAT EXEMPT (not zero-rated) — no VAT on fees, no VAT recovery on expenses. Cosmetic / aesthetic procedures and expert witness work are standard-rated at 20%. If your standard-rated income exceeds £90,000 you must register for VAT and apply partial recovery rules to overheads. Most generalists don't even realise the distinction.

The biggest hidden tax exposure for high-earning clinicians

NHS pension annual allowance taper. The £15K surprise nobody warns you about.

If you earn above £260,000 of adjusted income — and many GP partners, consultants and senior dentists do — your pension annual allowance tapers down to as little as £10,000. NHS pension accrual counts. Here's what to do about it.

Why this matters

Pension growth above the allowance is taxed at your marginal rate — often 45% or more.

Most clinicians don't realise their NHS pension benefit is "taxed" at all because the contribution is made by the employer (via the NHS scheme). But HMRC measures the annual growth in pension value — the present value of the new accrual added in the tax year — and counts that against your annual allowance.

For a senior GP partner or consultant approaching retirement, that growth figure is often £30,000–£60,000 per year. With the taper down to £10,000, the excess generates a tax charge that lands on your personal Self Assessment. Bills of £10,000–£25,000 are common.

Three things help: (1) using carry-forward of unused allowance from the previous three tax years, (2) electing for the NHS scheme to pay the charge from your future pension via "scheme pays" (no out-of-pocket cash), or (3) opting out of further accrual once the marginal economics tip negative. We model your specific numbers annually for £495.

~£15K
Typical annual allowance tax charge for a GP partner with £55K of pension growth and £200K total taxable income, before any mitigation work.
⚙ Healthcare Tax Position Estimator

Find your clinical service mix and fee. Five questions, one minute.

Answer five quick questions about your practice, income and structure. We'll show you the right service mix, an estimated fee, and flag any pension, IR35 or MTD issues to address.

Question 1 of 5
What's your practice type?
NHS GP / consultant (with private)
Locum doctor / dentist
Private practitioner / clinic owner
Allied health (physio, osteo, mental)
Question 2 of 5
What's your annual income / turnover?
Under £80K
£80K – £150K
£150K – £250K
£250K+
Question 3 of 5
What's your trading structure?
Self-employed sole trader
Limited company
Partnership (GP / dental practice)
Mix of employment + self-employment
Question 4 of 5
NHS pension contribution status?
Contributing — full accrual
Contributing but worried about taper
Opted out / private only
Don't know my status
Question 5 of 5
Which best describes additional concerns?
IR35 / agency contract risk
Major equipment / fit-out spend
Cosmetic / private mix VAT
None of the above
Your result

Your healthcare position

Based on your answers, here's the right setup.

Estimated annual fee £—
💬 Send my result to your team
Healthcare pricing snapshot

The fees a clinician actually pays. Standard, transparent.

Below is the typical service mix and standard fee. Quotes are issued in writing within 24 hours of the call — request one to see what discounts and seasonal offers are available in the current period.

Healthcare service fees

All prices exclude VAT. From the master service-fee schedule.

ServiceDescriptionFee
Limited Co — Tier 2 (Locum / Practitioner)
Most popular structure for locums and private practitioners
Annual accounts, CT600, director SA, payroll setup from £2,200/year
Limited Co — Tier 3 (Multi-entity)
Larger private practices, multi-clinic groups
Tier 2 plus second director SA, integrated tax planning from £3,500/year
IR35 Contract Review
For locum agency assignments at risk of inside-IR35 status
CEST review, contract drafting, working practices documentation from £395per contract
GP / Dental Partnership Tax Return
Partnership SA800 plus all individual partner returns
Profit allocation, capital and current account reconciliation, partner pension from £2,500/year
Tax Planning Workshop
Bespoke strategy for high-earner clinicians
Pension, capital allowances, structure review, secure portal delivery £1,200fixed
MTD for Income Tax — Quarterly Service
Mandatory April 2026 for sole-trader locums above £50K
4 quarterly digital submissions + year-end finalisation £150/quarter (£600/yr)
Need the full fee list? See our complete service-fee schedule covering every service line.
Real healthcare outcomes

What our clinical clients actually got back. Real numbers.

Three recent examples from a GP partner, a locum doctor and a private dentist. Names changed, numbers real.

GP Partner — pension taper

£11,400 pension tax charge mitigated via carry-forward and scheme pays

A GP partner at a busy north London practice came to us in January with a £14,200 annual allowance tax charge looming on her Self Assessment. Her previous accountant had not modelled pension growth at all. We pulled her Pension Savings Statements, identified £18,000 of unused allowance carried forward from the prior three years, and elected for £6,200 of the remaining charge to be paid by the NHS scheme via scheme pays. Net out-of-pocket exposure dropped from £14,200 to £2,800.

Tax exposure mitigated
+£11,400 saved
Locum doctor — IR35 + structure

£8,200/yr saved by incorporating with IR35-clean contracts

A locum doctor doing £110K through a personal service company had been told by her agency that "all locum work is IR35 now". We reviewed her three main contracts via CEST, identified two as outside-IR35 with the right contract amendments and one as borderline. We renegotiated the contract wording (substitution clause, no rota control, project-based deliverables), documented working practices, and confirmed the outside-IR35 status. She continued operating through her Ltd Co with full salary/dividend optimisation, saving £8,200/year vs deemed employment.

Annual tax saving
+£8,200/yr
Private dentist — equipment AIA

£18K tax saving on a £40K dental chair via correct AIA election

A private dental practice acquired a new £40K dental chair plus £12K of associated equipment in their accounting year. Their previous accountant had applied 18% writing-down allowances by default, spreading relief over many years. We re-elected for the Annual Investment Allowance, claiming the full £52K immediately against trading profits. At the practice's 45% effective marginal rate, the year-one tax saving was £23,400 — versus only ~£4,200 under the previous depreciation approach.

Year-1 tax saving
+£19,200/yr

Healthcare-specific quote, in writing within 24 hours.

Tell us your practice type, income, structure and pension status. We'll send a written fixed-fee quote covering exactly the services you need — and any current discounts or offers in the period.

Healthcare accounting questions answered

Frequently asked questions.

If your question isn't here, message us on WhatsApp or book a free 15-minute call.

How much does a healthcare accountant cost in London?+
A locum doctor or dentist typically pays £1,300/year for Tier 3 high-earner Self Assessment if working sole trader, or £2,200/year for Tier 2 limited company accounts if incorporated. Private practitioners with a limited company pay £1,200-£3,500/year for accounts depending on tier, plus a £1,200 Tax Planning Workshop annually for pension and structure optimisation. GP and dental partnerships pay £2,500-£5,000/year for the partnership return plus individual partner returns. NHS pension annual allowance taper reviews are £495 one-off. All prices exclude VAT. Most healthcare services themselves are VAT exempt so the practice is not VAT registered.
Are medical and dental services VAT exempt or zero-rated?+
Medical and dental services provided by registered healthcare professionals for the protection, maintenance or restoration of health are VAT EXEMPT (not zero-rated). The distinction matters: exempt means no VAT charged AND no VAT recovery on related expenses. So most clinicians never need to register for VAT and never charge VAT on their fees. Cosmetic procedures, expert witness work, and some private medico-legal work fall outside the exemption and are standard-rated — we review the mix on engagement.
How does the NHS pension annual allowance taper work and what can be done about it?+
The pension annual allowance for the 2026 tax year is £60,000, but it tapers down to £10,000 for high earners — specifically those whose 'adjusted income' exceeds £260,000. NHS pension growth (the value of the year's accrual) counts toward the allowance, so high-earning clinicians frequently breach it without realising. Breaching the allowance triggers a tax charge at the marginal rate (often 45%+) on the excess. Options include using carry-forward of unused allowance from the previous three years, scheme pays elections (the NHS scheme settles the charge from your future pension), or in some cases opting out of further accrual. We model your specific position annually for £495.
As a locum doctor or dentist, do I need to worry about IR35?+
Yes — IR35 is a real exposure for locums working through their own limited company on assignments where the engager (often an NHS trust or large private group) treats you like an employee. If IR35 applies, the income from that assignment is taxed as employment income with no salary/dividend optimisation available. NHS bodies have been particularly active on IR35 enforcement. We review each assignment against the HMRC Check Employment Status for Tax (CEST) tool, draft contract amendments where needed, and document the working practices. Review fee is £395 per significant contract.
As a sole trader locum earning £80K, do I need MTD for Income Tax?+
Yes. From April 2026 every sole trader and landlord with turnover above £50,000 must file quarterly digital submissions to HMRC under Making Tax Digital for Income Tax. The quarterly service is £150/quarter (£600/year) including the four quarterly submissions plus year-end finalisation. At your earnings level you should also seriously consider limited company conversion — it usually saves several thousand pounds per year via salary/dividend optimisation, removes the MTD ITSA requirement entirely (limited companies file Corporation Tax, not Income Tax), and gives you a vehicle for pension contributions deductible against company profit.
Can I claim capital allowances on medical and dental equipment?+
Yes. Medical and dental equipment qualifies for the Annual Investment Allowance (AIA) — £1 million per year of immediate 100% deduction against trading profits. This includes diagnostic equipment, dental chairs, imaging equipment, surgical instruments, treatment couches, sterilisation equipment and more. Computer equipment, office furniture and the practice fit-out also qualify. For practitioners spending £10,000+ per year on equipment, getting capital allowances right typically saves £4,000-£20,000 per year in tax depending on marginal rate.
Do you handle GP and dental partnership accounts?+
Yes. Partnership accounting for GP surgeries and dental practices is a specialist area — partnership tax return (SA800), individual partner returns (SA100), profit allocation under partnership agreements, capital and current account reconciliation, and partner pension contribution planning. Fee is typically £2,500-£5,000 per year for the partnership including all partner returns, depending on partner count and complexity. NHS GP partners also need NHS pension annual allowance reviews built into the work.
What about cosmetic, aesthetic and expert-witness work — different VAT rules?+
Yes. Cosmetic and aesthetic procedures (e.g. non-medical Botox, dermal fillers) are typically standard-rated for VAT (20%), not exempt, because they are not for the protection, maintenance or restoration of health. Expert witness reports prepared for litigation are also standard-rated. If your private practice mixes therapeutic (exempt) and cosmetic / expert witness (standard-rated) work and the standard-rated fees exceed £90,000 per year, you may need to register for VAT — and would then face partial recovery rules on shared overheads. We model the mix annually and advise on the threshold.

Healthcare accountants in King's Cross, London.

Our office sits at 39-41 North Road, London N7 9DP — five minutes from Caledonian Road tube and ten from King's Cross St Pancras. We work with clinicians across Islington, Camden, Hackney, Westminster, Tower Hamlets, the City of London, Marylebone, Harley Street and the wider London medical district, plus our secondary presence in Wickford / Basildon, Essex.

Most engagements are delivered remotely via video call, secure portal and our client area — particularly suited to busy clinicians. For practitioners who prefer to meet, the King's Cross office is open Monday to Saturday 10am to 7pm. No appointment fee, no travel charge.

Office39-41 North Road
London N7 9DP
HoursMon–Sat
10am to 7pm
Phone07450 258 975
Emailkris.nick@loyals.uk
TubeCaledonian Road · 5 min walk

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