Private client tax specialists recognised

The Law Society of Scotland recently approved a new accredited specialisation, in private client tax. It may be that, in the future, other areas of tax will have their own accredited specialisations.

The specialist accreditation panel has met to consider the first applications, and two of these have now been approved. Others are in the pipeline for consideration by the panel shortly, and the panel will welcome further applications.

All private client lawyers in Scotland will be involved in giving tax advice to some degree. Proper will instructions, for example, cannot be taken without considering the tax implications of the assets in the estate and the testator’s wishes for those assets. The resulting discussions will often raise tax planning issues which will have to be put in place in lifetime if they are to be effective.

In the majority of cases, in life and after the testator’s death, the tax issues that arise will be routine, and well within the competence of experienced general practitioner solicitors. Accredited specialists are available to advise on more complex cases, acting as consultants to the solicitor concerned, who retains the sole client contact. Even experienced practitioners may wish a second opinion on a tax planning exercise, especially where land, business assets, or valuable moveables are involved.

Where trusts are involved, there may be particular complexities, involving both tax issues and trust technicalities for which there is a separate list of accredited specialists. The accredited specialist in private client tax will be able to advise on all the taxes likely to affect a trust and its assets. Recent – and proposed – changes in the tax regime for trusts make it all the more important to have a clear understanding of the impact different taxes may have and ensure that planning takes account of all the relevant risks.

A death is often the acid test for previous planning, and is the opportunity for HMRC, with hindsight, to review and possibly challenge planning done in lifetime. Specialist advice may ensure that reliefs or exemptions originally denied are in fact available.

Other areas where the advice of an accredited specialist may be helpful include the affairs of non-resident or non-domiciled clients, offshore trusts, excluded property, and heritage property; and in selecting investments and their wrappers, especially where offshore arrangements are proposed. Specialist advice may be appropriate also in many family law situations – before agreements between spouses are made binding.

Tax is law, and it is most appropriate that the Society accredits specialists in this field.