Ocakbaşı grills, cafés, bakeries, barbers, builders, off-licences, wholesalers and online shops each meet UK tax at a different point. A restaurant has to separate hot takeaway food, which carries VAT, from cold food that may not, and it has to happen at the till rather than at the year end. A builder working under the Construction Industry Scheme has 20% taken from each payment — 30% if not registered for CIS — and that deduction is a payment towards tax, so the year-end return often produces a refund. A business that takes a lot of cash needs daily records that would hold up if HMRC asked to see them.

• Accountant for restaurants, cafés and takeaways
• CIS accountant for construction subcontractors
• Self Assessment tax returns
• VAT registration and returns
• Payroll, PAYE and CIS
• Company formation and new businesses

Our office is in Finchley (N3), within easy reach of Enfield, Edmonton, Palmers Green and the Green Lanes stretch through Harringay. You can sit down with us there, or do everything by phone, video, email and WhatsApp. Whichever you choose, we reply within one working day.

• Accountants in Harringay — Green Lanes
• Accountants in Enfield
• Accountants in Palmers Green

In Türkiye, keeping a business’s books and filing its returns is the work of a serbest muhasebeci mali müşavir (SMMM), and certain certifications can only be signed by a yeminli mali müşavir (YMM). Both are regulated titles under Turkish law, held by members of TÜRMOB.

We are neither. We are UK accountants, ACCA and ACA qualified, members of ACCA, ICAEW and the IAB. We cannot file a Turkish return or sign anything for the Turkish tax office; for that you need an SMMM in Türkiye, and we are happy to work alongside yours. What we do is the UK side, completely.

One difference worth knowing: in the UK the word “accountant” is not a protected title, so anyone can use it. The qualifications are what tell you who has been trained and is regulated — ask any accountant which body they belong to.

If you are UK tax resident you are generally taxed here on your worldwide income and gains. Rent from a flat in Türkiye, interest on a Turkish deposit account and a gain on selling Turkish property all belong on your UK return, whether or not the money ever leaves Türkiye. The UK and Türkiye have a double taxation agreement, so Turkish tax on the same income can usually be credited against the UK tax — up to the amount of UK tax on that income, and only if the credit is claimed.

Renting out a property in Türkiye

The rent goes on the foreign pages of your return, converted to pounds, and the profit is worked out under UK rules, not Turkish ones: the lump-sum expense deduction you may know from Türkiye does not exist here, but actual costs such as repairs, management fees and insurance can be deducted. Mortgage interest on a let home only earns a basic-rate tax reduction, as it does for a UK let. And a loss on a property abroad can only be carried forward against future profits from property abroad, not against UK rent or wages.

Selling a property in Türkiye

For UK capital gains tax the purchase cost is converted to pounds at the exchange rate when you bought, and the sale price at the rate when you sold. Because the lira has fallen so far against sterling, a property that doubled in lira can show a much smaller gain in pounds — or a loss. Turkey may tax the sale too, and that tax can generally be credited. The sale is reported on your Self Assessment return; the 60-day UK property return is for UK property only.

Pensions and newcomers

A pension from Türkiye has its own article in the treaty, and which one applies depends on what kind of pension it is, so we work it out from the award letter. If you have only recently moved to the UK after at least ten years living abroad, the four-year foreign income and gains regime introduced in April 2025 may let you keep income from Türkiye out of UK tax for your first four tax years here — it has to be claimed, and claiming it has costs of its own.

• Accountant for landlords
• Property tax for landlords

Moving your own money from Türkiye to the UK is not taxed. Tax follows the income that created the money, not the transfer. Two separate questions still come up, and it helps to keep them apart.

The first is your UK bank. Banks have to check where large incoming payments come from, and they may freeze a transfer until you show them. The second is HMRC, which cares whether the money is income that should have been declared here — interest earned on Turkish savings while you were UK resident, for example, or rent you have not reported.

The same paperwork answers both, so gather it before you send a large sum, with translations where they are needed:

• Turkish bank statements (hesap ekstresi) showing how the balance built up
• The title deed (tapu) and the sale contract, if the money comes from selling property
• The inheritance certificate (veraset ilamı), if it comes from an estate
• A short signed letter from the giver, if it is a gift from family

A genuine gift from family in Türkiye is not income, so it does not go on your UK return. Interest earned on the money in Türkiye is different: if you were UK resident when it was paid, it is taxable here, with credit for the Turkish tax withheld.

The Ankara Agreement (ECAA) business route brought many Turkish sole traders to the UK. It closed to new applicants when the Brexit transition period ended at the end of 2020, but people already on it can still apply to extend their stay or settle.

Immigration advice is a regulated activity and we do not give it — your immigration adviser handles the application. What those applications usually rely on is evidence that the business is real and trading, and its accounts and Self Assessment returns are central to that. They need to be complete, filed on time and consistent with what HMRC holds. That is the part we can make sure of.

From 6 April 2026, sole traders and landlords whose gross income from self-employment and property is over £50,000 a year must keep digital records and send HMRC quarterly updates, with a final declaration after the year end. The threshold drops to £30,000 from April 2027 and £20,000 from April 2028.

The figure is turnover, not profit, and property income abroad is included. Someone with a small UK business and a let flat in Türkiye can cross the line on the two together when neither would on its own. We check where you stand, set up the software and send the quarterly updates.

Several UK tax terms have a Turkish look-alike that means something else. Acting on the familiar meaning is an easy way to miss a deadline.

Self Assessment is a declaration, not an assessment

HMRC does not work out your tax and send you a bill. You declare, you calculate and you pay, by 31 January after a tax year that ended the previous 5 April — and HMRC checks afterwards. The first January payment often includes an advance towards the next year too, which is why it can come as a shock.

National Insurance is a tax, not insurance

It is charged on earnings alongside income tax, and it builds your entitlement to the UK State Pension. It is not like SGK cover you choose; it follows from your earnings.

Companies House and HMRC are two different offices

Companies House keeps the company register and receives the accounts and confirmation statement; HMRC collects the tax. Filing with one does nothing for the other, and each has its own deadlines and penalties.

A UK Ltd is not a Turkish limited şirket

A UK company is formed online with Companies House, with no notary and no minimum capital. Since 18 November 2025 its directors and people with significant control have had to verify their identity with Companies House. Whether a company or staying a sole trader saves you tax depends on your profit, and salary and dividends from a company are taxed differently, so we work it out with your numbers before you decide.

• Full UK tax calendar
• Limited company accountant

We are ACCA and ACA qualified accountants and members of ACCA, ICAEW and the IAB, and we keep books in Xero and QuickBooks. The first meeting is free. Before any work starts we agree the fee with you in writing, so you know the cost in advance. We reply to calls, emails and WhatsApp messages within one working day, in Turkish, English, Persian (Farsi) or Italian.

The services we provide for the Turkish-speaking community include bookkeeping and year-end accounts and corporation tax. Each has its own page with what is included and how we work.