PRIVATE CLIENT SERVICES
Shipleys specialises in looking after the personal financial affairs of wealthy individuals. We often lead or participate in a team of advisers with different expertise so that our clients benefit from well co-ordinated advice.
Tax Compliance
If you are one of the ten million or so taxpayers in the UK who annually receive a tax return form, then you are required to use it to report your income and capital gains to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC).
Many people find the tax return overwhelming, as the standard form is 12 pages with extra sheets for additional sources of income, capital gains or special circumstances. It is accompanied by a 36-page booklet and a separate guide on calculating your tax liability which runs to a further 16 pages.
Collating the information, filling in the form and calculating the tax payable can be arduous and time consuming.
We offer a first class, personal service that covers the preparation of the annual tax return. We can reduce the burden on you by contacting third parties for the required information. We use specialised software to accurately complete the form and calculate your overall tax position, which reduces the chance of an unnecessary HMRC enquiry into your affairs. Our advice on filing deadlines and how much tax you need to pay, and when, helps you keep on the right side of the taxman and avoid late filing penalties, interest and surcharges.
If your tax return is selected for enquiry by HMRC we will deal with the queries quickly and effectively to ensure you are not subjected to unnecessary worry.
In preparing the return we are always alert to tax-saving opportunities. Our tax experts make sure that any expenses allowed by HMRC are claimed and the overall tax bill is minimised. If you incur losses, we evaluate the possible claims to work out which will save the most tax and when, so that you can manage your way through a potentially difficult period.
When we prepare tax returns for our clients we review their quoted investment portfolios against stock market activity to take account of stock dividends, scrip issues, rights issues, takeovers and dividends, even if we haven't been given all the supporting documentation (such as the dividend voucher). Our tax specialists keep track of the capital gains tax costs and any capital losses to ensure that gains or losses can be easily calculated and appropriate reliefs claimed. This means that we can provide illustrative capital gains calculations to help with decisions such as whether to sell individual investment holdings or a whole portfolio.
We calculate the pension contributions you can make, advise on maximizing the related tax relief and ensure the most suitable claim.
We produce our own tax liability calculations and statements that we reconcile to those issued by HMRC, to make sure that what you are asked to pay is your correct liability and no more.
We can also deal with the inheritance tax returns which may be required if you give assets way.
When changes in the tax law or practice are announced our systems allow us to identify those clients who may be affected so appropriate claims or planning can take place.
Income and capital gains tax planning
Our tax compliance procedures ensure that income tax and capital gains tax planning is considered on a regular basis. However, we recommend our clients periodically ask us to undertake a more detailed review of their affairs. For example, a tax review might cover the efficiency of specific investments, including tax shelters such as Enterprise Investment Schemes (EIS), Venture Capital Trusts (VCT), film and other investment schemes.
We also offer advice for people who are interested in tax planning arrangements that fall within the disclosure of tax avoidance scheme (DOTAS) procedure. HMRC is aware of these tax avoidance schemes and clients who participate enter the DOTAS reference number on their tax return.
In some instances we can devise bespoke tax efficient structures or arrangements to fit your specific circumstances. Examples include certain land sales, the remuneration structure and other planning for those temporarily seconded from abroad to work in the UK, and capital gains tax savings for those who own more than one family home.
Estate planning and inheritance tax
Estate planning and inheritance tax mitigation are key areas in managing family wealth. At the very least you should have a will and ensure it is up to date.
Inheritance tax planning is often overlooked. Our knowledge, built up through dealing with clients' annual tax reporting, means that we are well placed to advise on the potential impact of inheritance tax and can help you take advantage of established exemptions such as annual exemptions, ordinary expenditure out of income, business property relief and agricultural property relief.
Our advice covers wills, the use of trusts and other planning arrangements. We work together with clients' legal advisers to ensure the intended arrangements are implemented properly. We can arrange suitable introductions for legal advice if required.
Trusts can provide a mechanism for the transfer of family wealth and business assets down the generations, with built in safeguards to ensure assets pass to the intended person at a suitable time.
Our trusts and estates department advises not just on setting up such arrangements, but also provides administration and accounting to ensure the established trust remains appropriate, runs efficiently and is cost effective. To benefit our clients, we tailor estate planning to take into account inheritance tax mitigation where possible.
Financial planning
We have excellent working relationships with numerous financial planners. We can arrange introductions for clients who need specialist advice in areas such as savings and investments (including school fees planning), pensions and annuities, inheritance tax plans, mortgages, mortgage protection and insurances.
International tax planning
Through our membership of AGN, a worldwide association of separate and independent accounting and consulting firms, we can arrange specialist tax advice anywhere in the world. This need often arises with multiple homes and investments abroad.
Shipleys' wealth management team
Our approach builds a close, long-term client relationship and understanding of requirements. We work not just with our clients, but also with their other advisers, such as lawyers, stockbrokers or financial planners. We can also introduce new experts into the team when specialist advice is needed.
Some clients take advantage of our 'family office' service and ask us to lead and co-ordinate their professional adviser team, especially valuing our ability to direct and manage their financial affairs.
Shipleys' specialist wealth management team comprises experts with backgrounds in private practice, HMRC and financial services companies. All our staff are highly experienced and take pride in providing a tailored personal service.
All web content © Shipleys 2007