Tax Planning

Our services are not limited to solving problems after they have arisen! In fact most of our work is concerned with planning to avoid difficulties arising in the first place. The types of case we deal with on a day-to-day basis cover the whole range of UK taxes: the case studies below identify just a few of the problems we have solved. For an A-Z of some of the other areas in which we helped please click here.

Tax planning

Tax planning is a very broad term. Our planning encompasses anything from advising on the best way to reorganise a group of businesses to finding tax-efficient ways to realise value on a sale or retirement and from drawing up wills and trusts to minimise inheritance tax payable on death (or, as we prefer to call it, to protect your family from legalised grave robbery - some of us have strong feelings about IHT). A few case studies cannot possibly do justice to the limitless number of situations that can arise, but we give them below anyway.

Case Study 1

Client A wanted to offer shares in his business to employees but had been advised of substantial tax charges that would arise. By putting into place an approved share option scheme we were able to avoid immediate tax charges and incentivise key employees with the prospect of an effective tax rate of less than 10% on eventual sale.

Case Study 2

Client B had significant family wealth and was anxious about the effect that inheritance tax would have on his eventual death. By a combination of outright gifts, trusts, tax-effective wills and restructuring the remaining investments we were able to make a very substantial reduction in the potential amount of tax.

Case Study 3

Client C was an privately-owned business with trading operations internationally. We were retained to review the worldwide corporate structure with a view to identifying areas of tax risk and opportunity. We successfully reduced the group tax charge significantly and put into place robust processes to forestall areas of potential HM Revenue & Customs challenge.

What about tax schemes?

All our planning is bespoke. Although we think we are as innovative and imaginative as anyone when it comes to tax planning, we don't devise or sell artificial "off-the-peg" schemes and we don't recommend them. This isn't because of any moral objection to tax avoidance: it's simply because we think that it is nowadays seldom in a client's best interests to get involved in highly artificial schemes. Consider:

Can you live with the uncertainty of not knowing what your tax will be?
Are you prepared to suffer perhaps years of delay before you know whether a scheme works?
Can you afford to pay the interest which will be charged if the scheme is successfully challenged?
Do you want your card marked as a serious tax avoider?
Are you prepared to commit to the scheme provider's costs with no guarantee of success (although part of the fee may be contingent on success, fully contingent fees are a rarity)?

Only if the answers are Yes to all of these should you go ahead!

For more on tax avoidance on the increasingly aggressive approach which HMRC are taking – and for a useful insight into what HMRC see as objectionable – follow the link to HMRC spotlights.