Tax Planning

Specialized knowledge of tax law and tax codes is a requirement of a finance tax attorney since he or she will possibly be tasked with representing their client in civil or even criminal court. To pre-empt court representation tax law and tax planning advice to clients is a valuable service they offer. The advice of a good finance tax attorney in regards to tax law can save you money and help to legally minimize your tax liability.

You should seek out professional advice if confronted with issues related to your tax planning that are questionable. To receive the best possible tax planning advice that is legally sound a finance tax attorney is a logical choice.

Finance tax attorneys should be able to help guide you in planning your taxes so that you can minimize your tax burden, make you aware of any exemptions and rebates that you do or do not qualify for and tell you the most prudent method for filing taxes. They must be able to negotiate the complicated nature of federal and state laws and the constantly changing tax codes.

Ignorance is no excuse in the eyes of the Internal Revenue Service. If you are not sure you understand the confusing tax codes and how they apply to you and your circumstance, take a look at a good finance tax attorney.

Unless you are willing to pay the consequences of financial penalties or more…get professional legal tax advice. Tax law is not an area where you might want to risk doing it all by yourself. Sure, you can do all you can to have a low tax liability, just take care to get counsel and make sure your approach is in accordance with local and federal tax codes and laws. Do you really want to risk the wrath of the IRS, they can be so unforgiving if you are suspected of evading taxes or tax fraud.

Should you find yourself in such a predicament, a finance tax attorney is who will be wholly responsible for representing you in a court for tax law violations including tax evasion or fraud.
His expertise is what will help determine the outcome of your case. In legal matters a finance tax attorney has attorney-client privilege which means they do not have to disclose any conversations you may have had as a client. Protections other tax professionals can not offer you.

Finance tax attorneys will negotiate on your behalf with the IRS. Should their client be found guilty or liable in a court proceeding their job is to minimize penalties and fines. A good finance tax attorney by seeking reduction through a settlement can have your penalties and fines reduced substantially.

The biggest challenge is to make up your mind you need help and seek out counsel from a finance tax attorney that has the requisite experience and proficient in tax law, especially in your local jurisdiction. All good attorneys are not good finance tax attorneys, use due diligence. Make sure you find a finance tax attorney with a proven track record and the skills to represent you successfully. Tax planning advice from a finance tax attorney makes sense, get it.

When considering any form of offshore tax planning you need to essentially wear ‘two hats’. The first hat is the UK hat, and the second is your offshore hat. You need to ensure that you consider the total tax impact, both in the UK, as well as offshore to decide whether your tax planning strategy is worthwhile or not.

Different offshore tax planning strategies

Firstly, you could move overseas. Essential to this is that you need to ensure you cease to be UK resident and ordinary resident. If you do, you can usually avoid UK Capital Gains Tax provided you’re absent for at least five complete tax years. Of crucial importance here is the overseas dimension. In particular you need to ensure that you’re not going to suffer taxes overseas or if you do you’re fully aware in advance of the tax burden you face.

When considering moving overseas, there are a number of traditional tax havens that are continually popular with tax savvy expats such as Switzerland, Monaco, Cyprus, Malta and Andorra.

Secondly you could consider using an offshore company. If you are going overseas, using an offshore company is pretty much standard practice for international trading. If though, you’re remaining to live and work in the UK it is much more difficult to use an offshore company tax efficiently, at least for UK tax purposes. That’s not to say it’s impossible, just that it will be looked at closely by the tax authorities.

There are a raft of anti avoidance rules to consider. Essentially you’ve got the best chance of obtaining tax benefits with an offshore company if you can show it’s controlled from outside the UK, and that you are either non UK domiciled or that you had a sound business motive for incorporating the company overseas. If you can achieve this, the benefits can be huge as any overseas profits will escape UK tax altogether (and in most cases any tax overseas as well). Using an offshore company in conjunction with an offshore trust (see below) can assist in obtaining these benefits as well.

Thirdly you could use an offshore trust. Offshore trusts (and their ‘cousin’ the foundation)are an old favourite for international tax planners. There’s been a global clampdown on using trusts (given the perception that they were established for tax avoidance motives) — so are they still an effective tool in reducing UK & overseas tax liabilities?

The answer — yes they are but in pretty limited circumstances. If you’re a UK citizen born and bred the anti avoidance provisions that apply to any offshore trusts you form are in some ways stricter than if you formed a UK trust. So you could find yourself in a worse tax position than if you established a UK trust. It’s not always like this though and there are circumstances where offshore trusts can still be used tax efficiently.

Most notably, there’s the position of non UK domiciliaries. Again they are in a privileged position as many of the tax anti avoidance rules don’t apply to them so they can obtain tax benefits from using trusts much more easily. There are also specific tax exemptions and opportunities for trusts that are for income tax avoidance only (as opposed to capital gains tax avoidance) or where close family won’t be listed as beneficiaries.

Offshore trusts are however still popular for people coming to live in the UK. Settling overseas assets into an offshore trust before obtaining UK residence or domicile status can lead to big tax savings in the long term (particularly in terms of inheritance tax).