7 Best Corporate Tax Books

UK corporate taxation has never been simple, but the last few years have taken things up a level. With the return of a two-tier corporation tax system, a 25% main rate for larger profits, a 19% small profits rate and marginal relief in between, even straightforward computations now require careful reading of the rules. Add in frequent Finance Acts, new developments in reliefs and allowances, and evolving HMRC guidance, and it’s easy to see why even experienced tax professionals feel the pressure to stay up to date.

That’s where a solid shelf of corporate tax books comes in. The right titles give you authoritative explanations of UK legislation, worked examples you can actually use in practice, and planning ideas you can adapt for your own clients. Instead of scrambling to find answers online every time the company tax rules change, you’ve got reliable reference materials on hand – written by leading tax practitioners and academics who live and breathe UK taxation.

This guide pulls together some of the best corporate and business tax books available today – from big technical manuals to easy-to-digest planning guides. Whether you advise a single owner-managed company or a whole portfolio of UK limited companies, these books can help you understand the rules, manage risk and identify tax-saving opportunities for your clients.

What to Look for in a Corporate Tax Book

Before you start to browse catalogues or add new titles to your online basket, it helps to be clear about what you actually need from your tax library.

Authority & credibility

For corporate tax, authority really matters. Look for books:

• Written by CTAs, FCAs or other recognised tax professionals.

• Published by reputable houses like Tolley, Bloomsbury Professional, Tax Insider, Taxcafe or similar.

That combination usually means the content has been properly peer-reviewed and is suitable for professional practice rather than casual reading.

Legislative coverage

Corporate tax is driven by statute. A good book should:

• Be clearly updated for the latest Finance Act and corporation tax rates (including the 19% / 25% split and marginal relief rules).

• Flag where there have been recent developments in areas like losses, group relief, R&D, or interest restrictions.

• Make it easy to see which year the materials relate to, with the Finance Act and date of publication clearly included on the cover or in the front notes.

If you’re using older books, you’ll need to take extra care checking that the legislation hasn’t since changed.

Practical focus

Corporate tax isn’t just about reading the rules – it’s about giving clear advice and helping companies pay the right amount of tax at the right time. The most useful corporate tax books:

• Use real-world scenarios and worked computations.

• Show the impact on directors, shareholders and employees (including employment-related benefits, share schemes and pensions).

• Include practical checklists or planning “tax tips” you can apply straight away.

This mix of theory and application is crucial if you’re advising real clients under time pressure.

Depth & usability

Some titles are designed for deep research; others are built for day-to-day use. Ideally, your corporate tax library should give you both:

• Depth: detailed analysis for complex planning or thorny queries.

• Usability: clear headings, good indexing and an easy structure so you can access the right section quickly during a meeting or while drafting a report.

Think about the form you prefer too – some people like big hardbacks to annotate with notes, others like searchable digital copies they can order and download instantly.

Relevance to your practice

Finally, match your business needs:

• SME and owner-managed company planning (profit extraction, remuneration, Business Asset Disposal Relief).

• Larger corporate work (group reliefs, transfer pricing, interest restriction, international issues).

• Sector-specific matters (for example, property-heavy groups, R&D-intensive businesses or companies with substantial employment-related share schemes).

Most firms end up with a “core” corporate tax manual plus a few specialist planning books that align with their client base and areas of interest.

The Best UK Corporate Tax Books

Below we group the books into two broad categories:

• For practitioners & company owners – planning-heavy titles to help you keep companies compliant and tax-efficient.

• For tax students – broader textbooks that give a structured overview of UK taxation, including corporation tax.

Here is a quick-look table at the books we'll cover in this blog:

Book	Publisher	Audience	Price / Format
101 Business Tax Tips (2025/26 Edition)	Tax Insider	SME advisers, accountants, company owners	£34.97 (digital), c.£39.97 (print)
Rayney's Tax Planning for Family and Owner-Managed Companies	Bloomsbury Professional	Corporate tax advisers, OMB specialists	c.£200 (paperback)
Putting It Through the Company	Taxcafe UK Limited	Company owners, SME advisers	c.£30 (paperback)
The Company Tax Changes and How to Plan for Them	Taxcafe UK Limited	SME advisers, owner-managers	c.£30 (paperback)
Taxation: Policy and Practice (31st ed., 2024/25)	Fiscal Publications	Tax students, trainees, junior staff	c.£45–£50 (paperback)
UK Taxation for Students: A Simplified Guide (2024/25)	Spiramus Press	Tax students, early-career professionals	c.£35–£40 (paperback)

For Practitioners & Company Owners

1. 101 Business Tax Tips (2025/26 Edition) – Sarah Bradford

• Author: Sarah Bradford (ACA CTA (Fellow))

• Publisher: Tax Insider Ltd

• Publication date: 2025/26 edition

• Length: Around 200 pages

Synopsis

101 Business Tax Tips is a concise, planning-led guide aimed at entrepreneurs, family businesses and the advisers who support them. It pulls together 101 practical business tax strategies – from choosing the right structure and using capital allowances to extracting profits from a family company in a tax-efficient way. The book is written in a clear, conversational style, allowing readers to dip into individual “tips” when they face a particular problem rather than reading cover-to-cover. It’s squarely focused on helping businesses boost profits by paying less tax, while still staying firmly within UK legislation and HMRC rules.

What readers have to say

Tax Insider pitches this as a guide for both business owners and advisers, and the feedback reflects that. Readers highlight how easy it is to apply the tips in real life and how useful it is as a quick refresher when clients contact them with a very specific question about profit extraction or deductions. Many reviewers describe it as a handy “first reach” title before they move to deeper technical manuals.

Star rating: 5 Stars

Online reviews on general bookseller sites and specialist tax bookshops are consistently positive, with readers praising its practical focus and value for money for small firms and advisers.

Typical price & format

• Print: about £39.97 (plus P&P)

• Digital: about £34.97, downloadable straight away

It’s the kind of book you keep in stock in the office so the whole team can dip into it when a new business tax query lands on their desk.

2. Rayney’s Tax Planning for Family and Owner-Managed Companies (2025/26) – Peter Rayney

• Author: Peter Rayney

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Professional

• Publication date: 27 November 2025 (2025/26 edition)

• Length: c.1,408 pages

Synopsis

If you work with owner-managed companies, this is one of the heavyweight corporate tax books on the market. Rayney covers virtually every stage in the life of an owner-managed company – from choosing a structure and designing remuneration strategies, through benefits and expenses, employment-related securities, financing, expansions and reorganisations, all the way to sale and succession planning. The commentary is regularly updated for the latest Finance Act changes and draws on many years of practice experience, with detailed worked examples and planning checklists at the end of each chapter. It’s ideal when you need both depth and practical, client-ready answers.

What readers have to say

Publisher and review quotes describe the book as comprehensive, enlightening and readable, and as a go-to reference that is still accessible for non-specialist advisers. Reviewers often note that it’s well-organised and surprisingly easy to navigate given its size – a crucial point when you’re under time pressure.

Star rating: 4.5 Stars

Previous editions attract strong online reviews from both specialist tax professionals and general practitioners, with many calling it their owner-managed company “bible”.

Price

As of the 2025/26 edition, the paperback is listed at around £200, with a slightly lower price for the ebook. It’s an investment, but one that many firms treat as core library material.

3. Putting It Through the Company: Tax Planning for Companies and Their Owners – Carl Bayley & Nicola Braun

• Authors: Carl Bayley BSc FCA, Nicola Braun

• Publisher: Taxcafe UK Ltd

• Latest edition: 2024 edition (regularly refreshed)

Synopsis

Where Rayney offers a huge, reference-style manual, Putting It Through the Company takes a more focused planning approach. It looks at when it makes sense to put business activities through a company, how to structure remuneration and dividends, and how to plan around the post-2023 corporation tax bands and marginal relief. The book is written in plain English and is particularly strong on real-world planning – for example, weighing up whether to keep an asset personally or inside the company, or deciding the best form of reward for owner-directors and senior employees.

What readers have to say

Advisers and business owners tend to appreciate its “ideas-first” approach – there’s enough technical detail to keep professionals happy, but the focus is firmly on how to manage profit extraction and corporate structures in practice. It’s often recommended as a bridge between small business guides and full-blown reference tomes.

Star rating: 4.5 Stars

Buyer feedback is consistently strong, with reviewers highlighting it as a very practical guide for small and medium-sized companies.

4. The Company Tax Changes and How to Plan for Them – Carl Bayley

• Author: Carl Bayley BSc FCA

• Publisher: Taxcafe UK Ltd

• Publication year: 2022 (covering recent rate changes)

• Length: c.178 pages

Synopsis

This shorter book zooms in on the big corporation tax changes that took effect from April 2023 – namely the 25% main rate, the 19% small profits rate and the re-introduction of marginal relief. It explains how the new bands work, what they mean for associated companies, and how planning around profit levels and group structures can influence the effective rate of tax that a company pays. Examples and planning scenarios help you see the impact on real businesses, making it a handy companion when you’re modelling “what if?” scenarios for clients.

What readers have to say

Readers describe it as a clear and targeted guide to a complex topic, useful for both tax professionals and owner-managers trying to get to grips with the new system without wading through the full legislation.

Star rating: 4.5 Stars

Generally well-reviewed, and often praised as “just the right length” to get to grips with the post-2023 company tax rules.

For Tax Students

5. Taxation: Policy and Practice – Andy Lymer & Lynne Oats

• Authors: Andy Lymer, Lynne Oats

• Publisher: Fiscal Publications

• Latest edition: 31st edition, 2024/25, fully updated each year

Synopsis

Taxation: Policy and Practice is one of the most widely used UK university tax textbooks. It provides a comprehensive overview of the UK tax system, covering corporation tax, income tax, capital gains tax, VAT and more. While it’s written for students, many firms keep a copy in their office because it combines technical accuracy with clear explanations, exercises and questions for study. For corporate tax work, it’s a solid way to build (or refresh) your understanding of how corporation tax fits alongside the rest of UK taxation, especially if you’re training new staff.

What readers have to say

Lecturers and students regularly describe it as well-structured and self-contained, with clear explanations and examples that make it easier to grasp the logic of the UK tax system rather than just memorising rates.

Star rating: 4.5 Stars

Widely regarded in academic circles and generally rated highly by students who use it as their core text for tax modules.

6. UK Taxation for Students: A Simplified Guide – Mark Hunt

• Author: Mark Hunt

• Publisher: Spiramus Press

• Latest edition: Finance Acts 2024 / 2024–25 edition (fully updated for recent changes)

Synopsis

UK Taxation for Students is designed as a genuinely introductory text. It assumes no prior knowledge and walks the reader through the five main UK taxes – including corporation tax, income tax and capital gains tax – using straightforward language, examples and diagrams. For junior staff or trainees who are just starting to learn how companies pay tax, it’s a gentle route into the subject that still connects back to real-world practice and professional exams.

What readers have to say

Students and tutors emphasise how approachable it is, and how helpful it can be as a first book on UK taxation before moving on to more detailed corporate tax manuals.

Star rating: 4 Stars

Well-reviewed as an accessible stepping stone into the UK tax system, especially for those who find more technical texts overwhelming at first.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which corporate and business tax books are best for day-to-day advisory work?

If you’re advising owner-managed companies, a combination works well:

• Rayney’s Tax Planning for Family and Owner-Managed Companies for deep planning and reference.

• Putting It Through the Company and The Company Tax Changes and How to Plan for Them for focused guidance on profit extraction and the post-2023 corporation tax regime.

• 101 Business Tax Tips when you need quick, practical tax tips for SMEs and family businesses.

Together, these titles help you stay on top of new developments, answer “can we do this through the company?” queries, and give clear planning advice without reaching for legislation every time.

Which titles are suitable for CPD or staff training?

For structured learning and CPD:

• Taxation: Policy and Practice works well as a core text for trainees and junior staff; it encourages deeper study of how UK taxes fit together and can double as an ongoing reference.

• UK Taxation for Students is ideal for complete beginners who need to understand the basics of corporation tax in the wider UK context before specialising.

You can then layer in specific corporate tax planning titles once people are comfortable with the fundamentals.

Are these books updated every tax year?

The big textbooks – particularly Taxation: Policy and Practice and UK Taxation for Students – are explicitly updated each year for the latest Finance Acts. Planning-led titles like 101 Business Tax Tips, Rayney’s book and the Taxcafe range are also refreshed regularly to reflect changes in corporation tax bands, allowances and reliefs.

That said, it’s always worth checking the edition and date before you order, especially if you’re buying in January or around Budget time when further changes might be in the pipeline.

Conclusion

Staying on top of UK corporate tax after the 2023 rate changes means keeping one eye on legislation and another on practical planning. The best corporate tax books give you both: technical accuracy on things like marginal relief and group limits, and real-world examples you can adapt for your own clients and companies.

A well-rounded corporate tax library will normally include:

• At least one detailed technical manual or policy-level text.

• Practical planning guides focused on owner-managed companies and SMEs.

• At least one broad textbook for training new staff and supporting exam study.

Used together, these titles help you stay compliant, spot genuine planning opportunities and give confident, up-to-date advice – without spending your whole day trawling HMRC manuals.

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