One of our clients recently saved £30,000 in Capital Gains Tax in relation to the sale of a farmhouse.  The farmhouse was owned by four of the family, but only one family member lived in it.
Had the property been sold with this ownership structure, there would have been Capital Gains Tax payable of in excess of £30,000.  A couple of years before the sale, we identified the possible problem and transferred ownership into the name of the family member who lived in the house.  The subsequent sale resulted in the gain being covered under the Principal Private Residence exemption and so the gain was tax free.

VAT on new build holiday accommodation

A client of ours recently had a property built which was to be used as holiday accommodation. We pointed out that the VAT charged was at the wrong rate – they had been charged 17.5% whereas the correct rate should have been 0%. 
Getting the VAT back involved obtaining a written ruling from Customs confirming that our firm’s view was correct, then using this to obtain refunds from the different developers.  Credit notes from the developers were then raised.  The builders reclaimed the VAT from H M Revenue and Customs on their VAT returns, and then passed the refund to our new client.
This was a complex and drawn out procedure, however a VAT repayment of almost £20,000, which was incorrectly charged, was obtained.

Buying milk quota and saving tax

We recently restructured one dairy farming client’s business.  This involved introducing a limited company as a third partner in the business.
The company has the advantage that milk quota purchased by it, and used in the farming partnership, can be written off against tax over a period of years.  The Limited Company has purchased more than £100,000 of milk quota.
This milk quota write off, plus the ability of the company to have the first £10,000 of profits at 0% tax, means that the family will save at least £12,000 of Income Tax per year for the next five years.  This is a total saving of more than £60,000 in tax.
All farms and their circumstances are different, but generally speaking, if you currently produce over 500,000 litres of milk, and are paying income tax of at least £6,000, we might be able to significantly reduce your tax bills.

Divorce - reaching a sensible agreement

One of our clients recently went through an acrimonious divorce.
Our initial assessment of the position was that our client was worth in the region of £600,000.  The lawyers acting for his, now ex-wife, calculated the farmer to be worth £1.2 million.
Our detailed assessment of the position was then confirmed by an independent assessment, and a divorce settlement agreed at around the figure that we first estimated, based upon our valuation.
We were also able to agree a way forward for the farming business to allow payment of the divorce settlement, without the main farming business being sold.  In addition, we advised on the most tax efficient sale of assets to ensure that the settlement was tax efficient.
Throughout the process we worked closely with the solicitors to ensure that a sensible agreement was reached in this difficult situation, and to ensure that the business could survive the extra strain put on it.
Our agricultural, tax and business knowledge was invaluable in this process.