Below is a sample of case studies where we have acted.
Tax on investment activities overseas
We were asked by a firm of financial advisors to comment on whether it is possible to undertake investment activities in certain non UK jurisdictions by which withholding tax (WHT) can be recovered or exempted by a UK registered pension scheme.
EEA pension funds are entitled to recover WHT where the resident country holding the pension scheme does not apply WHT. Presently, a number of court cases are underway in Europe where EEA member states applying WHT have been challenged.
Relying on case law in a number of EEA member states, we were able to give guidance to the Financial Advisory firm on which countries in the EEA would no longer apply WHT on certain investment activities, where a method of recovery of tax relief was available we were able to direct how this could be administered and recovered in the relevant jurisdiction.
Residential Development
A UK building company owned a parcel of land in wiltshire. The building company wished to development the residential properties for which it had planning permission for but wanted to know whether it could be effected through a pension scheme to reduce corporation tax and whether the transaction would be deemed taxable. The enquiry originated from the firm's accountant.
Our conclusion was that provided that the development was disposed of prior to substantial works being completed this would not be viewed as a taxable asset on the pension scheme. However, the land was being acquired for the sole purposes of selling on numerous developments and this would meet a "badges of trade test". Case precedents were provided to support the opinion to the accountancy firm acting for the client and an alternative solution was implemented.
HMRC Pension Investigation
We were asked by a trustee to assist on a compliance investigation by HM Revenue & Customs regarding a breach of their regulations. The matter concerned a number of loans which were defaulted upon shortly after the loans were made. Would the lost funds give rise to a tax charge on the pension scheme as unauthorised employer payments.
Ordinarilly a tax charge would arise, however we negotiated a transfer of debt to a new company, which commited to repaying the prospective loss to the pension scheme over a term. This ensured that there was no long term loss to the Exchequor or loss to the pension scheme.