Individuals may have to pay tax in several areas, including income, investment growth, savings interest and inherited assets. The amount of tax to be paid depends on different circumstances and it’s easy to end up either under or over-paying. We prepare thousands of personal tax returns and our clients benefit from our knowledge and experience of minimising tax liabilities.

If you were to sell an asset (for example land, property or shares), then any profit you receive may be subject to capital gains tax. Calculations in this area can be complex as there are many different rates of tax to consider. Timing is so important and advanced planning is required to minimise tax exposure wherever possible.

Our specialist tax accountants can advise on the complicated world of non-domiciliary tax which applies to individuals who are UK residents but whose permanent home (domicile) is outside of the UK. Our private client team ensure all affairs are treated correctly and tax is mitigated wherever possible.

Our estate planning services take a long-term approach for the protection of client assets to ensure that as much as possible goes to their family. The earlier we can start to advise them the better, as this allows us to take full advantage of the tax opportunities available. We will also ensure adequate provision is made for the individual and their spouse in their later years. Our specialist team of tax accountants ensure that everything is done correctly from both a legal and tax point of view and that tax exposure is minimised wherever possible.

With people living longer than ever, it’s vitally important to make sure individuals have sufficient funds in place for their desired lifestyle once retired. It’s never too soon to start planning and the sooner we can start to assist, the more opportunities will be available. We find it most beneficial for you if we integrate your financial adviser into our team and work closely with them to ensure that we are all working towards the same common goal. And if you don’t have a financial adviser? We work with some great people and can introduce you to someone we think would work really well with you.

Clients often come to us because they want to make sure that they are able to provide for their family’s future generations. So as an example, grandparents may wish to help pay for their grandchildren’s school fees in later years. Trusts are a highly effective way of being able to achieve this with the minimum tax exposure. This involves putting a legal arrangement in place where designated individuals (known as trustees) control the assets for a beneficiary in accordance with the wishes and aims of the donor.

Trusts can be incorporated into business planning as well – and we can advise on the use of trusts in inheritance tax planning, general income tax planning and asset protection. We work closely with the client’s legal team and prepare all the relevant paperwork for the beneficiary including accounts, trust tax returns, inheritance tax returns (if applicable) and tax certificates.

Trusts are a particularly complex area of tax so please get in touch if you’d like to discuss this further.

Anyone at any time can be selected for a tax enquiry by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC). Anyone who has gone through this will know it’s a time-consuming and arduous task. It’s also an expensive one, due to the amount of time a tax specialist has to spend during this process.

We offer a Tax Investigation Service for clients so that, if HMRC opens a tax investigation into your affairs, our tax specialists will review the case and represent you, at no extra cost. All our clients need to pay for is the cost of the investigation insurance premium.