Services for UK Individuals

The concept "it's not what you earn, it's what you keep" is at the heart of our services for personal clients. We aim to minimise the tax liabilities of our clients to maximise their after-tax funds, whether it is for our clients during their life, or their estate and dependants after their death.

However, discussion about personal wealth and what to do with it is not only about saving tax. It is important to ensure that the capital and income available is put to use in a way that our clients wish to live their lives and accomplish their aims.

Personal Tax Planning
Self Assessment
Retirement Strategies

Estate & Inheritance Tax Planning

Trusts & Executorships

Personal tax planning

With the tax regime becoming more complex and more emphasis being put on taxpayers' individual responsibilities, everyone that is subject to taxation needs professional advice and support to optimise their tax position and ensure they meet all the compliance requirements. Our tax specialists can provide you with year round tax advice on:

Income tax
Capital gains tax
Inheritance tax
Trusts and estates
Emigration
Non-domiciliary tax issues

Every £1 of income tax you save means more income at your disposal. Every well-planned disposal of assets means minimum loss of capital gain and every inheritance tax saving means more benefit for your beneficiaries. Make sure you take full advantage of tax saving opportunities open to you. Call us today for a personal tax planning review.

Self assessment

The term "self assessment" is proven to be one of the great misnomers of all time. Many taxpayers struggle to understand the complex tax returns and complete them correctly. In the first year of the regime alone, 775,000 taxpayers received £100 penalties for failing to submit their returns on time and some 400,000 incurred further penalties because their returns were still outstanding six months later!

The constant stream of changes to tax legislation means that not only are the returns becoming even more difficult to understand, but also that taxpayers risk incurring more penalties through failing to complete their returns on time or correctly.

We can save you a lot of time, worry and money by handling your self assessment for you. We will calculate all the necessary computations, complete your return and even offer advice on how to minimise your tax liability.

We will act as your agent, dealing direct with the Inland Revenue on your behalf and should you be selected for a self assessment enquiry, act for you at any meetings. Although many self assessment returns are enquired into by HM Revenue & Customs because they do not understand or are suspicious of some of the information in the return, an equal number are selected at random. This means that every self assessment return could be called for an enquiry, and once the enquiry starts there is little control over how long HM Revenue & Customs will continue the enquiry and the amount of information it will require.

Due to this unknown quantity, we arrange fees insurance cover for our clients. Most of our clients take out this insurance each year so that, in the event of an enquiry being called on a self assessment return, the professional fees will be met by the insurance company.

Retirement strategies

Everyone hopes to maintain the same standard of living on reaching retirement as they enjoy while working. To achieve this requires considerable forward planning. Here are some important questions you need to ask yourself:

Exit strategies
If you are in business, the first thing you need to consider is your exit strategy.

Will you withdraw from the business, leaving it for the next generation, or will you hope to sell the business?
If you intend to hand over the business, do you have a workable succession plan?
If you intend to sell, how will you value the business, find a suitable buyer etc.?
Are you aware of all the tax implications of the timing of disposals?

Pension provision

Have you made adequate pension provision and do you have the right type of pension?
Are you aware of all the pension possibilities open to business owners and directors?
Are you making full use of all your allowances?

Savings and investments

Do you have the right balance between savings and investments and between high and low risk exposures?

Life assurance and long-term care

Do you have adequate life assurance and have you made provision for long-term care and medical insurance for you and your spouse for later years?

We can assist you, answer all these questions and recommend solutions tailored to your particular needs.

Estate and inheritance tax planning

Few of us like to think about dying, but it is important to make adequate provision for family and friends that survive us.

The legislation that governs passing on your estate to your chosen beneficiaries requires you to plan well in advance. Since none of us know when we shall die, this means making necessary provision now.

The earlier you make the arrangements, the greater your chance of taking full advantage of tax opportunities available and thereby maximising the amount that goes to your beneficiaries. Nothing is more demoralising than the thought that a substantial slice of the wealth you have worked hard to accumulate will end up in the Governments' coffers!

It is equally important when planning to transfer your estate that you make adequate provision for yourself and your spouse in your later years. Striking this balance calls for considerable skill and foresight, and a detailed knowledge of the tax regime.

We provide a discreet estate planning service that includes:

Help with drawing up and reviewing your Will, making full use of exemptions and lower tax rates on lifetime transfers
Optimising lifetime transfers between spouses
Transferring agricultural or business property
Transferring assets into trust
Arranging adequate life assurance to provide for potential inheritance tax liabilities.

Our tax experts work closely with lawyers in drawing up Wills and other documentation to ensure that the paperwork reflects our clients' wishes and minimises their tax liabilities.

Trusts and executorships

Trusts can be a very tax efficient way to set aside assets for the future outside of the inheritance tax net. We can advise on the most suitable type of trust and provide a full range of accounting and tax services for trusts.

We work closely with the lawyers in drawing up the documentation to ensure that the arrangements are as required by our clients and minimise their tax liabilities. The creation of trusts is often undertaken as part of an estate and inheritance tax planning exercise, at which time the client's Will is also reviewed.

Where appropriate, we can act as trustees for executors.