Areas of Practice

VCT / EIS

 

The tax breaks which allow investors to reduce their risk when investing in VCT / EIS qualifying businesses are really generous, and going hand in hand with that, they are dangerously complex and well policed. We work with several private equity firms and investor networks to make sure that their investments don’t bring unwanted tax risks into their portfolios.

Investor support

 

Investors are agile. They are always looking for the next opportunity and if there is a way that they can make something work which others have overlooked. Often the extra margin we can find is through a tax efficient investment route, which could be through business pensions or EIS investment structures. We work with investors to understand their long term aims, so that we can help put a structure in place which gives them the flexibility they need now while keeping on course to where they want to be long term family wealth strategy.

Tax relief for innovation

 

We love innovation and working with the businesses that are shaping the future. We support businesses and their accountants making R&D tax relief and patent box tax relief claims by proactively helping shape contracts and structures to make your claim for tax relief robust. Small changes to contracts can bring about big benefits.

Business pensions

 

Business pensions are a fantastic part of any SME’s long term plan. Very often advisers focus on just the business, or just the personal position of business owners and they overlook the long term interaction which is so characteristic of owner managed businesses. We work with specialist business pension advisers to manage tax costs and to protect long term value for the owners.

HMRC enquiries - R&D

 

HMRC enquiries into R&D tax claims have to be seen as the second step on the way to tribunal, the first step being the claim that is submitted. Our legal expertise helps us approach this work in a robust way, supporting accountants and advisers with HMRC’s enquiries. We’ve helped software developers, engineers, sports clubs, construction businesses and farmers all keep the credit they deserve from claims put together by their accountants and advisers.

IP valuation

 

IP often forms a significant part of the value of the businesses that we work with and understanding the amount of that value is often critical in transactions and also in measuring return on resources employed in different divisions of a business. Our experience with fast growing, innovative businesses gives us insight into this area and the subtleties that affect it.