Receiving quality, professional tax advice at every stage of the business cycle is critical in terms of both tax compliance and tax planning. Maximising profit retention by minimising your tax liabilities, whilst ensuring that your organisation meets all relevant compliance requirements is key to effective and efficient business performance.

We can help you find the optimum way through the complexities of the tax rules and regulations that impact on your business, through practical, commercially-driven, tailored advice.

Our Chartered Tax Advisers and specialist tax advisory Chartered Accountants work closely with you to understand your needs and aspirations and to help you and your business deliver maximum wealth and profit retention, through tax-effective business structures from early-stage development to advanced-stage succession planning.

Corporation tax

Compliance

We take a pro-active approach to corporation tax compliance, keeping you up to date with the increasingly complex legislative requirements of HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). Our services include:

• Regular planning meetings for early identification of issues and opportunities.
• Preparation and submission of company tax computations and returns using up to date software.

• Ensuring all appropriate reliefs and allowances are claimed to minimise tax liabilities.
• Calculation of tax liabilities and notification of when amounts fall due.

Planning

We have a dedicated in-house team with many years experience of providing real solutions for companies in the following areas:

• Business structures
• Capital allowances
• Profit extraction policies
• Enterprise investment scheme (EIS)/Venture capital trust (VCT) scheme qualifications
• Share schemes/management incentives

• The personal service company regime and IR35
• Overseas tax planning, company residence and transfer pricing agreements
• Corporation tax reliefs such as those for Research & Development (R&D) and contaminated land
• Intangible assets and patents

Research and Development (“R&D”) tax relief

R&D tax relief is a significantly beneficial tax relief available to any UK company seeking to improve their products or production processes through an advance in science or technology. In our experience, many businesses do not realise the full scope and potential of the relief, and so fail to claim all they could, or even fail to make a claim at all!

We seek to provide an R&D review that adds value to you, rather than just processing numbers. The claim we can produce for you would be in the form of a full report, detailing the methodology behind the claim and explaining the qualifying projects. Our claims are prepared in a format that we know from experience is preferred by HMRC and our excellent working relationships with HMRC result in successful, timely and cost efficient agreement of claims.

Our services range from R&D tax advisory at the inception of projects or support through the Advanced Assurance process, through to the preparation of detailed R&D reports and subsequent negotiations with HMRC.

In particular, we have an excellent reputation with HMRC, and can act as highly credible advocates for you in working with HMRC to agree initial claims, and a subsequent process for future years. Unlike some other consultancies, we combine the deep financial and tax expertise to analyse the rules and help you to apply them to your own situation.

Personal taxes

If you are required to complete and submit a self assessment tax return. Our tax team can help you with your responsibility to file such a return and provide advice on opportunities to minimise your tax liabilities.

Compliance

We take a pro-active approach to personal tax compliance, keeping you up to date with the increasingly complex legislative requirements of HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). Our service includes:

• Regular planning meetings for early identification of issues and opportunities.
• Preparation and submission of your personal self-assessment tax computations and returns using up to date software that enables online filing with HMRC.

• Ensuring all appropriate reliefs and allowances are claimed to minimise tax liabilities.
• Calculation of tax liabilities and notification of when amounts fall due.

Planning

We have a dedicated in-house team with in depth knowledge and experience of providing real solutions for individuals in the following areas:

• Capital gains tax planning
• Inheritance tax planning; the use of Wills, lifetime giving and Trusts
• The use of tax efficient investments such as:
  • Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) share acquisitions;
  • Venture Capital Trust (VCT) investments;
  • Individual Savings Accounts (ISA’s);
  • Save as you earn (SAYE) schemes.

• Remuneration planning, salary sacrifice, SMART benefits and company cars
• Business succession, retirement planning and pensions

Value added tax (VAT)

The legislation governing VAT is ever changing and complex. We can assist with VAT compliance from preparing the VAT returns on your behalf to providing a comprehensive review of the VAT position of your business.

VAT planning

It is vital that owners of VAT registered entities are completely on top of their VAT position. Entities who are not VAT registered may also need advice as to whether it would be beneficial for them register for VAT or whether they should be registered.

Starting a new business venture, doing something out of the ordinary or even just altering your business slightly could affect the amount of VAT you pay. We can advise you as to how these changes could affect you and the best way to reduce the burden on your business.

We can also provide specialist advice in areas such as:

• Transfer of a going concern
• Accounting for VAT; the cash accounting, flat rate or second hand goods schemes
• Charity VAT rules
• Partial exemption calculations
• Capital goods scheme and VAT on land and buildings
• International trade in goods and the EU sales list
• International services and the place of supply
• Fiscal warehousing

HMRC Enquiries

The prospect of HMRC opening an enquiry into your business or your tax affairs is extremely daunting and disruptive to businesses and personal life.

We have extensive in-house experience in dealing with tax investigations and can assist in dealing with the whole process of the enquiry from the early stages through to conclusion.

We also offer all of our client’s comprehensive fee protection insurance at extremely competitive rates, which provides those who opt to take it peace of mind that fees are covered for the duration of such an enquiry.