I'l try to keep this simple. So, my dad owns a small landscaping business and sets aside money throughout the year to pay his tax bill. I assume, in a nut shell, this is how most people do it. Now he thinks that by using this money to pay for things like expensive machinery etc that it wont go to the tax man. Like it becomes free or something. Im trying to tell him that all he is doing is reducing his profits. He seems to see it as £300 spent on equipment = £300 that doenst go to the tax man. I see it as £300 profit reduction, so when you consider say for exmaple £20,000 profit over the year, a £300 reduction isnt really going to make much difference to your tax bill. Granted every little helps. Please can anyone advise me on this as im very new to all things tax. Please tell me if im wrong, which i very well could be! Or we both could be wrong which would send me into hyterics