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Tax Planning

Your tax affairs don’t stop at completing a Tax Return. Tax planning impacts all areas of your financial considerations, from managing tax exposure when selling an asset to deciding how your estate should pass down through the generations.  

Contact Lynn Gracie

PROACTIVE, PERSONAL & PRACTICAL

Your tax affairs will be unique to you, so we will adopt a bespoke, blank canvas approach to finding the most appropriate and tax-efficient answers for your personal needs.  

The experience of advising numerous clients over many years tells us the most effective results are achieved by getting to know you, and your hopes for the future, so we can suggest tax planning strategies that protect and realise the value of your assets. 

Our expert team covers all aspects of tax planning, including: 

  • Income tax 
  • Capital Gains Tax 
  • Inheritance Tax 
  • Succession and estate planning 
  • Trusts and Family Investment Companies 

REVIEWING & MINIMISING YOUR INCOME TAX

Tax legislation is complex and frequently changes, which may leave you wondering if you’re utilising all the various reliefs and benefits available to you. As we always keep up to date with the latest rule changes, we can give you timely advice and our latest thinking on all aspects of reducing your tax liability. 

We can advise you on tax efficient investments such as EIS, SEIS and VCTs, the reliefs we can claim for you personally and your family, and advising on the availability of relief on pension contributions, in line with the current limits. If you derive some of your income from property, our specialists will be able to advise you on the most tax-efficient approach.  

And yes, we will be delighted to complete your self-assessment tax return for you. 

DON’T BE CAUGHT OUT BY CAPITAL GAINS TAX

From selling your business to disposing of shares, planning for and seeking ways to reduce Capital Gains Tax (CGT) is essential if you are intending to dispose of assets. Many people are unaware that even simply gifting an asset can trigger a liability to CGT.  

We can advise on a range of reliefs, including Business Asset Disposal Relief (formerly Entrepreneurs’ Relief), Holdover Relief and Rollover Relief as well as managing the timing of disposals to ensure any transaction is as tax efficient as possible. If you expect to undertake property transactions in the near future, we recommend you seek our advice at an early stage, so we can make you fully aware of the CGT implications and formulate a plan to minimise them. 

INHERITANCE TAX – THE LEGACY YOU DON’T WANT TO LEAVE

When planning to pass on your wealth to your family, it’s important to balance your desire to maintain your standard of living with providing generously for future generations. Inheritance Tax (IHT) doesn’t just come into play on your death, but can also affect you now.  

For example, if you currently own or have an interest in a business, you could potentially use Business Relief to reduce its value when calculating IHT. This could result in a substantial reduction to the IHT payable by your loved ones, therefore saving you having to divest yourself of money or assets during your lifetime to achieve the same goal. 

We can help by quantifying your current exposure to IHT, providing guidance on a range of IHT mitigation strategies, including charitable giving, lifetime giving and Trusts and Family Investment Companies, and considering the interaction of IHT with other taxes. 

MORE THOUGHTS ON SUCCESSION & ESTATE PLANNING

It often happens that parents or close relatives will give younger members of the family an asset, such as land or property, but continue using it themselves. If that’s something you’ve done or were thinking of doing, then beware – you may be liable to POAT (Pre-Owned Assets Tax). POAT is payable annually, which may come as an unwelcome surprise, but there are ways to avoid it. We can advise on how estate planning can achieve this. 

With estate and succession planning, there is an obvious crossover with other aspects such as ensuring your Will is up to date and reflects any tax-efficiency changes you have made. We work closely with other professionals, such as lawyers, land agents, stock brokers, bankers and financial advisors, whose services we can recommend to enable you to benefit from joined-up, practical and convenient advice. 

  • I contemplated transferring my business to a limited company and I knew I could rely on AAB to make the process as straightforward as possible whilst providing the accounts and tax advice to enable me to make the right decision.

    Colin Brown

  • The firm's IHT, Trusts and Estates team provided me with highly innovative solutions which produced the exact result that I requested. I asked many, many questions along the way – all of which were ably answered by the team.

    James Thom

  • "I have been very much looked after by the Private Client team for a number of years now. Managed by experienced individuals, they are able to provide that sometimes elusive, bespoke, one to one professional advice.

    Joanna Robertson

  • The efforts of the team ensured that timely planning could be undertaken to the overall benefit of my family. AAB clearly demonstrated their expertise here and proved why it is always worth getting the best professionals on the job!

    Keith Fletcher

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  1. Blog7th Mar 2024

    Lynn Gracie, author of blog about non-dom tax breaks abolished

    Non-Dom Tax Status Abolished But A New 4 Year Residence Scheme May Soften The Blow

    For someone who has been working in tax for several years, non-domicile tax status and the UK tax breaks this provides has always been a controversial tax policy, no matter what government has been in power and no matter how…

    By Lynn Gracie

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  2. Blog7th Mar 2024

    Paula Fraser, author of blog about Spring Budget Commentary

    Spring Budget Commentary From Paula Fraser

    In yesterday’s Spring Budget, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt unveiled a series of tax reforms which will significantly alter the UK’s fiscal landscape. One of the positive changes will see National Insurance contributions for employees decreasing from 10% to 8%, which will result…

    By Paula Fraser

    View more
  3. Blog5th Mar 2024

    Lynn Gracie, author of blog about non-dom tax breaks abolished

    Lock In Tax Relief By Topping Up Your Pension Fund Before The 5th April

    Any financial advisor will tell you it’s never too early to start paying into your pension fund, but what many don’t necessarily appreciate is the significant tax savings that can be made whilst also building a secure plan for retirement.…

    By Lynn Gracie

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  4. Blog21st Dec 2023

    James Hunt, Gunhild Dam, Lynn Wilson, Lauren McIlroy, Stuart Petrie, Graeme Allan, Paula Fraser, Jill Walker, Gordon Steele, David Purse

    2023 Business Unit Year In Review

    Oxford recently released their word of the year for 2023 and it was “rizz”. If we had to pick a word for our year it would be ‘growth’. You might have heard us talk about our growth journey a time…

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