Specialist expertise

In conjunction with our in-house financial advisory partners, we have services designed to dovetail with our tax advisory work to ensure you achieve the best after-tax returns on your investments and savings.

Pensions

In our experience we have discovered that many people who invest their hard earned money in a pension plan are frustrated by its performance.

They are worried that their pension plan will not generate enough income to fund their retirement, but are concerned about “throwing good money after bad.”

The danger is that if your pension plan is not managed properly, you may not have enough to live on when you choose to stop working.

We have a joint venture with our strategic partners, AVN Wealth Managers LLP. Together we have created what we call our Pensions Review Service – to help you understand the extent of the problem and to show you what can be done to potentially enhance the performance of your pensions.

Investments

Investment planning is more than just recommending where you can invest any excess income or capital that you may have available. By helping you develop a Comprehensive Financial Strategy we will assist you to maximise the benefits from your current investment portfolio. To do this we will help you to invest in funds that provide the right balance between the risk you are willing to take and the return that you require, whilst ensuring that you minimise any tax liabilities that may arise from the portfolio.

We will also help you to analyse your current situation, to define your objectives for the future and to develop and implement an action plan which will make the best use of available resources to achieve your desired future lifestyle. We will also help you review this plan from time to time and to update it to take account of changed circumstances.

Protection

Most individuals and businesses protect their tangible assets as part of everyday life. However, if you, a member of your family or an important member of your business suffer a critical illness or die prematurely would you be able to cope financially?

Again, with our joint venture partners, we have developed a Protection Review Service. This is an objective analysis of your individual and/or your business’ protection provision. With your help, we assess your current financial position and make a detailed recommendation as to where any protection shortfall may exist.

If required, we will then help you implement an agreed strategy putting your mind at ease that, should any unforeseen events occur, you will be in a strong financial position to deal with the consequences.

This is a complex area of legislation. In 2008 a study by the Citizen’s Advice Bureau indicated that 75% of entitled persons do not claim the working benefit, while 8% of parents do claim the child tax credit. Contrary to some beliefs, tax credits are not part of the benefits system. They are very much part of the tax rules and system.

Our tax credit service will ensure your maximise you claim and entitlements. We will also check the tax credits actually paid to you (the tax credit office is renowned for making over and under payments) so that you know exactly where you stand. We will pursue any underpayments on your behalf.

Although the rules are currently changing, tax credits are likely to grow in importance as more and more families feel the impact of the recession. Many small businesses are experiencing problems with cash flow and profitability. These tax credits can help to subsidise your income in these difficult times.

If you are unfortunate enough to be the subject of a tax investigation by HM Revenue & Customs, it can be a stressful and worrying experience. Since personal and corporate self-assessment, Revenue staff can now review cases on a ‘sample basis’; consequently, tax investigations have become more frequent. We have a wealth of experience and a history of great results in dealing with HM Revenue & Customs investigations, whether they are enquiries into an individual’s Tax Return under the Self Assessment regime, or more detailed enquiries or employer-related investigations into PAYE and P11d compliance. If you are about to be the subject of an investigation, we can provide expert help and support.

Few of us like to think about dying, however the relevant legislation requires us to plan well in advance. This means making the necessary provisions now. There are many advanced tax opportunities available and the earlier arrangements are made, the greater the chance of taking full advantage of the UK’s complex tax system.

In many circumstances, payment of this tax is entirely voluntary, provided you plan ahead. How much of your hard-earned wealth due to be passed on to your loved ones, do you want the tax man to take?

There are three types of legal tax planning:

• No tax planning; this is what many businesses and people do by default. They simply complete their tax returns and send them to the taxman having taken little or no prior action to arrange their affairs in such a way as to legally pay less tax. As a result, the minimum amount of tax is never paid; these people always pay more tax than they need.
• Basic tax planning; this is what most businesses do, since it is what most accountants advising those businesses are good at. And through basic tax strategies it is often possible to reduce tax bills by between 5% and 25%. We will always consider and ensure that you are made aware of the basic tax planning strategies that are available to you.
• Advanced tax planning; advanced tax planning strategies have historically only been available to the richest entrepreneurs and individuals. Indeed it is such strategies that have helped them become even richer. These strategies are now available to many more people, not just the richest in society. Utilising a wide range of strategies it is possible to reduce tax bills by typically 50% to 100%. All good accountants should be able to advise on such strategies so that their clients are aware of the options and choices that are available.

So the questions that need to be asked are:

Which of the three legal types of tax planning are you currently doing, and which do you want to be doing?

Are you 100% happy with the amount of tax you are currently paying, or would you prefer to pay less?

If you would prefer to pay less, then talk to us as a matter of urgency about your advanced tax planning options.

Whatever corporate finance transaction you have in mind, we’re committed to providing proactive advice and “hands on” support so that your transaction can be completed efficiently.

We work with a number of providers who can advise you on the most complex of corporate finance transactions including:

• Corporate acquisitions
• Management buy-outs
• Management buy-ins
• Company disposals
• Fundraising
• Transaction tax planning
• Exit and succession planning. This should always be factored into your business plan

We are confident that, working with our corporate finance partners we can always obtain company or business disposal proceeds in excess of what you might be able to achieve independently.