Businesses operating in the UK are affected by a variety of taxes (including corporation tax, PAYE and VAT to name but a few) and effective management and planning of these obligations can enhance profits and shareholder value as well as reducing business risk.
Planning for business tax as an Privately Owned Business
Most major strategic decisions in business will have tax consequences but the complexity of the UK tax system means that business leaders often face challenges evaluating the tax implications and taking advantage of available tax reliefs or opportunities.
Effective tax planning can significantly improve business cashflow enabling this to be reinvested in growing the business or to be extracted by the business owners. This requires consideration and identification of potential valuable opportunities in advance of financial commitments.
How can we help?
We appreciate that many privately owned businesses will not have a dedicated tax resource and can benefit from experienced and expert tax support to deal with their basic tax compliance obligations and to provide robust tax planning throughout their Business Lifecycle.
We value close relationships with clients as we recognise all corporate businesses are different and we strive to understand your business objectives, the challenges you face and your individual circumstances and this enables us to tailor our tax advice specifically to you and your business.
Request a call back to discuss our Privately Managed businesses Tax services
Where do we help?
Tax compliance
We provide support to comply with UK tax business tax obligations from preparation of corporation tax returns, payroll and VAT through to assistance with the implementation of appropriate Criminal Finance Act policies.
We can also coordinate with our global network, HLB, to facilitate tax compliance in overseas jurisdictions.
Tax mitigation and planning
We work in partnership with entrepreneurs to optimise your tax position through dedicated teams of highly qualified and experienced business tax specialists who provide robust tax advice from initial establishment of a business to expansion, nationally or internationally, through to advising on exit or business succession.
Typical areas where we support clients
Profit extraction planning
As an entrepreneur, you want to enjoy the benefits from running a successful business and we work with you to identify a tax efficient profit extraction strategy based on your personal circumstances.
Tax efficient incentives for employees
Studies show that aligning the interests of the business with those of key staff can be a powerful way to secure the long-term commitment of key employees and drive business growth and value. We work with clients to implement tax efficient staff rewards and establishment of commercially and tax effective share and share option incentives.
R & D incentives
There are valuable tax incentives available to businesses undertaking research and development which can significantly reduce corporation tax liabilities or enable loss making companies to claim a payable tax credit from HMRC which helps reduce the cost of innovation.
We have a dedicated team that supports clients in taking advantage of this value tax relief.
Business expansion and structuring
As businesses develop and the focus of the entrepreneurs behind them evolves, it is important to ensure that the structure of the business remains appropriate and any risk of tax leakage is managed.
This is particularly important where a business starts operating internationally and needs to consider its exposure in other territories and the tax impact of repatriating the funds to the UK and we can support businesses with this through our International team and our membership of HLB global which allows us to access tax expertise in over 150 countries.
Tax efficient acquisition and disposal of assets
Capital spending can place a substantial financial burden on businesses and identifying tax saving opportunities can significantly reduce the impact on businesses. We work with you to identify and secure tax reliefs on business acquisitions, capital allowances on property acquisitions and refurbishments and allowances for other capital spending. We also undertake due diligence to review tax risks in potential acquisitions.
We also advise on the tax effective disposal of substantial assets including advice in relation to disposals of group companies and the ability to claim the Substantial Shareholdings Exemption.
Business exit and succession
Planning ahead for the succession of a business is important to ensure that business owners can take the appropriate steps to manage risks and portray their business in the best light to potential purchasers to maximise the sales price whilst also minimising tax exposures.
We work with clients throughout the process from carrying out a pre-sale tax health check, to undertaking any restructuring to facilitate the succession of the business to working with businesses on the transaction structure and supporting the owners through the sale process.
We work with business owners to achieve their succession goals and to realise the value they have built up in the business by optimising the financial and tax position including on:
- External sales of the company;
- Management buy outs;
- Employee Ownership Trusts
- Transferring the business to the next generation; and
- Restructuring interests to facilitate succession or partition businesses following shareholder disputes through demergers and reconstructions
