Taxation often represents one of the largest single costs a business has to meet and businesses of all types and sizes, as well as private individuals, are rightly anxious to minimise their exposure to tax. Yet our tax system is one of the most complex in the industrialised world. Many of the incentives introduced in recent budgets to encourage saving and investment only serve to increase the complexity of the system as a whole.
Why Choose Hawsons?
Hawsons' taxation specialists have an excellent understanding of UK tax law and how it applies to all kinds of business and personal situations. Our specialists are able to provide an expert taxation planning and advisory service to companies, unincorporated businesses, professional partnerships, private individuals and trusts. Our specialists have extensive experience of dealing with H M Revenue & Customs, in respect of matters ranging from routine compliance to full investigations.
Tax Compliance
Individuals, trusts, partnerships and companies are all required by law to Self Assess their taxable income and profits. The penalties for submitting a late or incorrect Self Assessment Return can be severe. We can remove the compliance burden from you.
Business and Company Taxation
We assist businesses to minimise their tax exposure by ensuring that all available reliefs are claimed and that particular transactions take place in the most tax effective way possible.
Groups of companies offer a number of potential pitfalls as well as opportunities for tax planning. We have experience of dealing with taxation issues for a number of corporate groups.
We can help you take advantage of available tax incentives and share schemes such as EMI in order to provide tax effective remuneration to directors and staff. We can give advice on the tax efficiency of providing benefits in kind, in particular company cars where the taxable benefit continues to increase relative to the employee's financial benefit and a cash alternative may be preferable for all parties. We can also prepare annual P11D returns of benefits provided to employees and provide PAYE healthchecks and reviews of employment status.
Value Added Tax
This is an increasingly complicated tax and the consequences of getting it wrong can be serious. We can advise you so that you understand the basis upon which your VAT liability should be based for both UK and international trading. We have expertise in the complex area of VAT as it affects property and construction businesses.
Business Disposals, Acquisitions and Restructuring
Working closely with our corporate finance specialists we ensure, both by long-term planning and careful structuring of particular transactions, that taxation liabilities are minimised on disposals of businesses and that the most tax effective means are chosen of carrying through an acquisition of a new business or restructuring an existing one.
Partnership Taxation
Under Self Assessment and with the advent of limited liability partnerships, this continues to be a particularly complex area. We advise a number of substantial partnerships and can ensure that partnership tax liabilities are kept to a minimum.
Personal Taxation
As well as dealing with the completion and submission of your Self Assessment return and calculating your income and capital gains tax liability, we can advise you on how to take advantage of the tax reliefs available to private individuals. We can assist you to take advantage of tax benefits such as Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs), Venture Capital Trusts (VCTs) and the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS).
Along with Hawsons Wealth Management Limited, we can also assist you with wide investment planning issues and help you through the complex choices available with matters such as pensions arrangements.
Inheritance Tax Planning and Trusts
We can help you to minimise your exposure to inheritance tax by long-term planning, protecting your wealth for the future benefit of your family.
The use of trusts often has an important place in such planning and we can advise you on the type of trust that should be used. As well as agreeing the taxation liabilities of the trust we will keep its effectiveness under review as circumstances change.
International Taxation
Commercial life is increasingly international in nature. If you are acquiring business interests overseas, going abroad to work, or thinking of emigrating, we can advise you on your tax position working hand-in-hand with our international associates through Praxity.
Tax Disputes and Investigations
A key feature of Self Assessment is the Revenue's policy of random and selected enquiries, which means that no one is immune from investigation. We offer specalists who are experienced at dealing with such enquiries to ensure that they are dealt wtih efficiently and fairly, reducing the inconvenience and minimising the liability. Where necessary we can represent you on appeal to the Tax Commissioners or VAT tribunals.
For further information please contact one of the following:
| Sheffield - | Peter Kennan, Partner | Tel. 0114 2667141 |
| Doncaster - | Martin Wilmott, Partner | Tel. 01302 367262 |
| Northampton - | David Cairns, Tax Partner | Tel. 01604 645600 |
to download our Taxation literature in pdf format.