Bespoke - for private clients

UK residency test and tax bills loom for British expats as Gaines-Cooper loses case

Wednesday, November 09, 2011 | Posted by: Mike Warburton
Categories: Personal, Protecting your wealth | Tags: HMRC, non-dom, Gaines-Cooper, Mike Warburton, UK residency, non-domicile, IR20, non-residency, UK resident, Lord Mance, Inland Revenue, Court of Appeal

image

Hundreds of expats and tax exiles may be at risk of an unexpected tax bill after Robert Gaines-Cooper, who moved to the Seychelles in the 1970s, recently lost his claim to be non-resident for UK tax .

Director Mike Warburton, who was an expert witness in the case, reviews the ruling, which has major UK residency and tax status implications for anyone who leaves the UK to live abroad.

Continue Reading

Rare violins – instruments for investment?

Tuesday, November 08, 2011 | Posted by: Fiona Cullinan
Categories: Personal | Tags: investment, HNWI, Bespoke magazine, investing, value, collecting, guide, prices, collectible, musical instruments, buying, violins, expert, rare

image

There are definitely strings attached to investing in rare musical instruments with little or no provenance. Not only does it take considerable expertise to assess the authenticity of an investment-class violin, but most collectors are also classical music patrons who lend out their investment to the world’s best players. Lisa Freedman interviews maestro Florian Leonhard (pictured) about investing in rare violins …

Continue Reading

What are the tax implications of bringing funds into the UK from abroad?

Tuesday, November 01, 2011 | Posted by: Naomi Smith
Categories: Personal, Protecting your wealth | Tags: tax, tax planning, offshore, income, domicile, UK, Naomi Smith, residence, non-dom, overseas, residency, non-domicile, offshore funds, non-residency, remittance basis, foreign income, ordinarily resident, tax liabilities, resident

image

There are currently a quarter of a million online discussions asking questions about how you will be taxed if you bring money from abroad or transfer foreign income into the UK. The multitude of answers are enough to tax anyone’s brain, but the foremost deciding factor is domicile. Here,we look at the situation for both UK-domiciled and non-domiciled individuals.

Continue Reading

Pensions just got flexible with new drawdown rules

Friday, October 28, 2011 | Posted by: Mike Hyland
Categories: Personal, Protecting your wealth | Tags: tax, tax planning, HNWIs, income tax, pensions, retirement, tax relief, Mike Hyland, minimise, high earners, higher rate taxpayer, pension, James Temperley, pension series, pensions changes, annuity, income drawdown, capped drawdown, flexible drawdown, 50% tax

image

A common reason clients give for not wishing to contribute to pensions are the restrictions on how and when they can access their pension benefits after retirement. From April this year there is a new option for such retirees. Flexible drawdown, as the name suggests, will give individuals much more freedom as to how they take their pension benefits.

Continue Reading

Cut your tax bill by £165,000 in retirement

Friday, October 21, 2011 | Posted by: Mike Hyland
Categories: Personal, Protecting your wealth | Tags: tax, tax planning, HNWIs, income tax, pensions, retirement, Mike Hyland, minimise, high earners, higher rate taxpayer, pension, James Temperley, pension series, pensions changes, lifetime tax relief, lifetime allowance, fixed protection, 50% tax

Our pension series continues with a look at the changes to the pension rules, which may cost you up to £165,000 if you don’t take action before 6 April 2012.

Continue Reading

A rich retirement: making the most of pensions

Friday, October 14, 2011 | Posted by: Mike Hyland
Categories: Personal, Protecting your wealth | Tags: tax, tax planning, HNWIs, income tax, pensions, IHT, retirement, tax relief, Mike Hyland, high earners, higher rate taxpayer, pension, James Temperley, pension series, pensions changes, pensions carry forward, 50% tax rate, annual allowance

After answering some of the most common pension questions in our post last week, we now consider the recent changes to the rules on pension contributions and how you could make best use of the new rules to provide for yourself and your family.

Continue Reading

Pensions – the tax planning vehicle of choice for high earners?

Friday, October 07, 2011 | Posted by: Mike Hyland
Categories: Personal, Protecting your wealth | Tags: tax, tax planning, HNWIs, income tax, pensions, retirement, tax relief, Mike Hyland, minimise, high earners, higher rate taxpayer, pension, James Temperley, pension series, annuity, 50% tax rate

Welcome to our new blog series on pensions. As an introduction, we will answer some of the most commonly asked pension-related questions and look at why now is such a good time to consider pension planning.

Continue Reading

High-end hobbies – helicopter pilot

Monday, September 26, 2011 | Posted by: Grant Thornton
| Tags: HNWIs, HNWI, Bespoke, wealth, magazine, charity, Bespoke magazine, hobbies, David Chisnall, helicopters, Bell Longranger

image

After a career in engineering, David Chisnall OBE transformed his love of radio-controlled helicopters into a full-sized Bell Longranger, which he now uses for charity flights. Glyn Brown discovers a man with a passion for turning fuel into fun.

Continue Reading

Will the Swiss tax deal be full of holes?

Thursday, September 22, 2011 | Posted by: Dave Jennings
Categories: Personal, Protecting your wealth | Tags: tax planning, HMRC, offshore, income tax, Dave Jennings, tax havens, disclosure, investigation, penalties, banking, Liechtenstein Disclosure Facility, tax amnesty, Switzerland, Liechenstein, evasion, Swiss, savings, Tax Investigations, UK-Swiss deal

image

The new UK-Swiss deal clamping down on tax evasion is expected to drive UK investors into the arms of Liechtenstein – with significant tax savings possible through the Liechtenstein Disclosure Facility (LDF).

Continue Reading

Deathbed IHT planning: are there any last-minute strategies to avoid inheritance tax?

Thursday, September 15, 2011 | Posted by: Naomi Smith
Categories: Personal, Protecting your wealth | Tags: tax planning, inheritance tax, IHT, will, Naomi Smith, gifts, estate planning, BPR, Business Property Relief, IHT planning, deathbed planning, death duties, death taxes

image

The concept of death taxes can come as a surprise to many. If you haven’t done any estate planning and you are looking for a quick fix, what options are available?

Continue Reading