Tax is inevitably the most emotive subject in the world of accountancy. We have particular strengths in this area which are continually updated in order to ensure that developments are monitored, digested and acted upon for the benefit of clients.

In addition to our in house expertise which includes membership of the Chartered Institute of Taxation, we are happy to consult with external advisers in both direct taxes (Income, Corporation, Capital Gains and Inheritance Tax) and indirect taxes (VAT and SDLT) including access to leading tax counsel.

We consider it essential to be at the leading edge of continual changes in tax legislation and case law in order to provide proactive advice to all clients.

Tax planning is the most interesting role in practice which involves organising a client’s affairs to achieve the most beneficial taxation situation. The directors of Stewart Associates Shrewsbury Ltd are particularly proactive in this area of expertise.

We plan to mitigate the impact of taxation wherever possible. To do so it is essential to have not only the knowledge but also the foresight to apply the knowledge to a particular situation.

There is no magic to reducing the taxation burden but we will always ensure it does not impact any more that it should and where any positive action is available it will be recommended.

We are happy to discuss the taxation implications of Trusts, SSAS, Self Invest Pension, Unapproved Pensions (EFRBS), EBT’s, Limited Companies, LLP’s, VCT’s, EMI, EIS and SEIS relief, and any other form of Income, Capital Gains or Inheritance Tax mitigation.

The Courts in a long standing case have declared that a taxpayer is quite entitled to arrange his affairs in such a way that the state takes as little as possible from them. We will take an aggressive stance on a situation which is defensible under law but will not support something which we know to be wrong. That would be fraud and we know our clients do not wish to commit such an offence.

The 2013 Finance Act has introduced a general anti-abuse rule (GAAR) which we are well aware of and  take in to account when considering tax mitigation.

Tax compliance is the filing of Income Tax and Corporation Tax Returns and computations at the appropriate time together with matters relating to such computations and assessments. Efficiency in tax compliance work is a natural expectation of an accountancy firm.

Self assessment, the word most synonymous with income tax nowadays. From a compliance point of view we lodge all returns on line which eliminates a large number of processing and timing problems otherwise encountered.

Employment status is very important and topical both in the building trade and with regard to one man contractor or consultancy companies potentially affected by IR35. This is a particular area of expertise within the firm.

HMRC investigations are a major worry for clients. We recommend that clients instigate fee protection insurance in order to meet the costs of defending an enquiry. Our role is to defend the rights of a taxpayer and to ensure that HMRC do not request information or demand unnecessary meetings, to which they are not legally entitled.

Software for running payroll is inexpensive and we encourage clients to process the payroll themselves. We do undertake payroll on behalf of clients when this is their preference.

The introduction of Real time Information (RTI) in 2013/14 has created another layer of bureaucracy particularly for the one person company and we have a very neat solution for complying with this.