Why choose me
I’m a VAT specialist who provides clear, practical advice to businesses and their advisers to help them navigate the complexities thrown up by this awkward tax.
I advise on a wide range of VAT issues, including property deals and construction works, international and cross-border transactions, schemes for small businesses, financial services, supply chain reviews, aircraft/yachts, mergers and acquisitions and reorganisations, HMRC investigations, appeals to Tribunal, partial exemption and margin schemes.
I work with businesses, but equally with accountants and other advisers. My aim is always to achieve solutions that are suitable for VAT, other taxes and, most importantly, for the commercial operation itself.
Examples of how I have helped my clients include:
- Transfer of a going concern (TOGC): the reorganisation of a developer business including a £79m property into a new VAT group was able to utilise TOGC reliefs by relying on a prior case lost by HMRC, saving VAT of £15.8m.
- Input tax recovery: a business had incurred £625,000 of VAT on fuel costs for its employees but had not recovered this. I helped apply for recovery and negotiated with HMRC when it raised a prolonged resistance until the case was overturned within HMRC and the VAT refunded.
- Disclosures: a business had omitted to record a £600,000 VAT liability and risked penalties of between £180,000 and £600,000. I had the penalty reduced and negotiated to have payment suspended so that nothing was paid.
- Registration and deregistration: I assisted a large exempt property rental business to register for VAT due to reverse charge purchases of advertising services from Ireland.
- VAT liabilities on goods and services supplied: the applicable rate of VAT for supplies involving different elements is complex. I have won disputes with HMRC and supported cases to Tribunal.
- Capital Goods Scheme adjustments: assisting clients using property to manage the risks arising from the Capital Goods Scheme.
- Option to tax: I have helped clients correctly avoid millions of pounds of VAT liability where an option to tax enabling the recovery of VAT on costs is otherwise invalid or ineffective.
- Partial exemption reviews: a business began making exempt rentals of a new apartment block despite having recovered VAT due to their original intention to sell new flats, but a solution was found to preserve almost all the £164,000 of input tax recovery.
- DIY housebuilders scheme: helping individuals constructing their own homes to recover VAT from HMRC, most recently £17m.
- Land and property transactions: a £219m construction project was about to lose its zero-rating status, generating a VAT liability of £44m, but after nine months I was able to reverse the position with HMRC.
- Financial services: a business provided £8m of guarantees for a bank loan to an overseas group company. I guided the client through this complex field.
- VAT advice on corporate transactions: the supply of management services is often considered to be a solution to ensure funds arrive in the correct group company. I help with planning these supplies in detail to ensure mixed supply doctrine does not result in some tax being irrecoverable.
- Disputes with HMRC/appeals: the tax authorities assessed my client for VAT incorrectly; I assisted them to dispute this with the authorities, and appealed through the Tribunal and court system, successfully winning the case in full.
I also write and lecture on VAT and have contributed to HMRC’s VAT manuals, specifically in relation to financial advisers.
I am genuinely interested in VAT and all the different businesses it brings him into contact with. I also enjoy all things relating to the ancient world.
I’m a VAT specialist who provides clear, practical advice to businesses and their advisers to help them navigate the complexities thrown up by this awkward tax.
I advise on a wide range of VAT issues, including property deals and construction works, international and cross-border transactions, schemes for small businesses, financial services, supply chain reviews, aircraft/yachts, mergers and acquisitions and reorganisations, HMRC investigations, appeals to Tribunal, partial exemption and margin schemes.
I work with businesses, but equally with accountants and other advisers. My aim is always to achieve solutions that are suitable for VAT, other taxes and, most importantly, for the commercial operation itself.
Examples of how I have helped my clients include:
- Transfer of a going concern (TOGC): the reorganisation of a developer business including a £79m property into a new VAT group was able to utilise TOGC reliefs by relying on a prior case lost by HMRC, saving VAT of £15.8m.
- Input tax recovery: a business had incurred £625,000 of VAT on fuel costs for its employees but had not recovered this. I helped apply for recovery and negotiated with HMRC when it raised a prolonged resistance until the case was overturned within HMRC and the VAT refunded.
- Disclosures: a business had omitted to record a £600,000 VAT liability and risked penalties of between £180,000 and £600,000. I had the penalty reduced and negotiated to have payment suspended so that nothing was paid.
- Registration and deregistration: I assisted a large exempt property rental business to register for VAT due to reverse charge purchases of advertising services from Ireland.
- VAT liabilities on goods and services supplied: the applicable rate of VAT for supplies involving different elements is complex. I have won disputes with HMRC and supported cases to Tribunal.
- Capital Goods Scheme adjustments: assisting clients using property to manage the risks arising from the Capital Goods Scheme.
- Option to tax: I have helped clients correctly avoid millions of pounds of VAT liability where an option to tax enabling the recovery of VAT on costs is otherwise invalid or ineffective.
- Partial exemption reviews: a business began making exempt rentals of a new apartment block despite having recovered VAT due to their original intention to sell new flats, but a solution was found to preserve almost all the £164,000 of input tax recovery.
- DIY housebuilders scheme: helping individuals constructing their own homes to recover VAT from HMRC, most recently £17m.
- Land and property transactions: a £219m construction project was about to lose its zero-rating status, generating a VAT liability of £44m, but after nine months I was able to reverse the position with HMRC.
- Financial services: a business provided £8m of guarantees for a bank loan to an overseas group company. I guided the client through this complex field.
- VAT advice on corporate transactions: the supply of management services is often considered to be a solution to ensure funds arrive in the correct group company. I help with planning these supplies in detail to ensure mixed supply doctrine does not result in some tax being irrecoverable.
- Disputes with HMRC/appeals: the tax authorities assessed my client for VAT incorrectly; I assisted them to dispute this with the authorities, and appealed through the Tribunal and court system, successfully winning the case in full.
I also write and lecture on VAT and have contributed to HMRC’s VAT manuals, specifically in relation to financial advisers.
I am genuinely interested in VAT and all the different businesses it brings him into contact with. I also enjoy all things relating to the ancient world.