Capital allowance specialists

Capital allowance specialists

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As an accountant in practice I have recently been approached by Portal Tax Claims who want us to refer then to our clients with properties who may be able to make capital allowance claims.

Call me cynical but it sounds too good to be true so I'm suspicious! Does anyone have personal experience of using them or similar organisations?

thanks

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By nogammonsinanundoubledgame
04th Apr 2013 11:42

Yes

As a practice we certainly are happy to outsource the process re. CA claims on property integral features.  We do not have in-house qualified surveyors, nor the other resources to do the job properly.  It makes sense to have it handled by those with experience, expertise, and specialised resources.

There are quite a few companies out there which will provide the service, and some are no doubt better than others. I would tend to steer clear of those whose marketing practice is to approach the end client direct with implied criticism of current accountants etc.

I have no experience of Portal Tax Claims so cannot comment on them.

In the past we have used Abbey Tax and Wilmslow Tax Solutions (formerly "CA Claims"), both of whom seem pretty competent, competitive and ethical.

With kind regards

Clint Westwood

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By User deleted
04th Apr 2013 11:01

Agreed with Clint

We're tax advisers, who can advise on the tax aspects of capital allowances. We can of course provide a 'finger in the air' estimate of qualifying expenditure, but we are not surveyors. Professionals should stick to their field of expertise, recognise their limitations and, where appropriate, refer the task to someone more able. We have strong relationships with a number of local and national firms of surveyors - it will normally be the potential size of claim that dictates which one will pick up the work.

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By David Henry
04th Apr 2013 11:21

CA Specialists - lots out there

There are an ever increasing number of firms that offer capital allowances advice. They fall into four categories in my opinion 1) Big 4 accountants that have in house teams 2) Large accountants and chartered surveyors that tend to focus on the South East with some of their regional offices offering capital allowances advice 3) One and two man bands (like me) that have worked for one of the big firms and have surveying and/or tax qualifications and 4) The call centre mass marketing firms.

As Mr Westwood has said, outsourcing this type of work is common when you do not have in house specialist resource.

A couple of points that you should consider when looking for a preferred partner 1) Track record - If a fellow accountant or tax adviser can recommend someone they have used in the past that should give you some comfort 2) Fee levels - some of the fees that I have seen being charged by some do not, in my opinion, represent good value to clients so don't always go with the first quote

Hope this helps

Kind regards

David Henry

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Replying to petersaxton:
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By Steve Airton
10th Jun 2015 19:28

Capital Allowance Consultancy Fees

What sort of fees should I expect to pay?

 

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By RetiredTax
04th Apr 2013 11:16

Capital Allowances specialists

Have a look at The Capital Allowances Partnership ~ who have exceptionally qualified advisors.

 

http://www.cap-allow.com/about-the-directors.php 

 

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Glenn Martin
By Glenn Martin
04th Apr 2013 11:42

I looked through a big selection of them

and some were ok and some not short of con men.

In the end I found a specialist chartered surveyor who charged £6500 for doing the survey work

I then got his reports and worked with our external accounatants what had been claimed previously and put together a claim for the additional. In the end we got CT tax rebate in 2012 of £800k and and have a substantial addition to the CA Pool going forward.

In total our fees were £20000 for the whole job. Whereas some of the sharks were wanting a huge % of the tax saving.

II could put you onto the surveryor if need be he is based in North East.

 

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Replying to Glennzy:
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By lornacop
12th May 2021 12:03

Hi Glenn,

I know this is a very old post but wondered if you still had a recommendation for someone in the north east who could assist with capital allowances on a new property a client has bought?

Thanks Lorna

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By Rachael White
04th Apr 2013 11:49

Hello,

Seeing as the Capital Allowances Partnership has already been mentioned, they also feature in our Business Tax Library under featured downloads. 

Hope you find this helpful! 

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Teignmouth
By Paul Scholes
04th Apr 2013 14:57

No hesitation in recommending....

Steve Dunham @ Dunham Consulting did a great job for a client of ours last year.

Portal approached a client last week and they are obviously on a marketing drive.  I have no knowledge of their abilities however Steve's fees were very competitive compared to Portal's 6%.  Mind you a few years ago (after this became flavour of the month for jumping onto the bandwagon) some firms were charging 50%.

 

 

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Northumberland flag
By MJShone
04th Apr 2013 16:38

I agree with Clint and BKD

It's worth getting a specialist in where property's been purchased and part of the purchase price might qualify for CAs. We accountants might know what, on paper, qualifies for CAs but how do we know what it looks like in practice? How, looking at a thingummybob, do we know what its function is?

When I worked at PwC, I called in the internal specialists. Since then, I've also used Deloitte and the Capital Allowances Partnership and would recommend both. Talk to a few specialists and make sure you're happy with them. Find out what they're going to charge. Don't necessarily go for the cheapest. In talking to a couple recently, I had to tell them that, where someone got something as part of a divorce settlement, they could still claim capital allowances. (Other hurdles to be jumped of course, but the mere fact that they hadn't paid hard cash for the property didn't rule out a claim.)

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By plummy1
05th Apr 2013 00:25

Horses for Courses

I'll just add my pennyworth but re-iterating what David Henry has stated especially around fees. It is important to look at how quickly the tax benefits will flow to the client. We have seen other capital allowances companies who charge fees which leave the client in a negative cash-flow position for two years or more. 

The ideal position for us is that the client receives a tax rebate from adjustments to the first open tax year. This tax rebate will exceed our total fee (where possible) meaning an immediate cash advantage for the client. Our company (falling into the two man band category) is www.curtisplumstone.com

 

David Henry could I ask  where you are based in the UK please? 

 

 

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By David Henry
05th Apr 2013 09:06

Sunny Scotland

I am based in Glasgow but, as with most capital allowances consultants, have clients and projects across the UK http://www.henryconsulting.co.uk 

As some background, I worked with Steve Dunham whilst we were at KPMG in London and Steve Bone from the Capital Allowances Partnership was one of my assessors when I sat my RICS APC. So there are some very experience guys out there but also a lot that have jumped on the bandwagon.

 

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By Paul Farey
05th Apr 2013 16:16

Horse Meat?

As a Capital Allowances specialist with sixteen years experience, I would concur with all of the comments made so far - you need to know what you are buying. Claiming capital allowances for real estate expenditure has become increasingly complex and the valuation process is quite specialist too.

Most reputable advisors do not have set fee scales and will consider each project on its own merits - i.e. the tax position of the claimant and the potential qualifying expenditure and impact of prior claims; and will work comfortably alongside existing tax advisors. If the specialist can add value, there should be no negative cashflow impact in the first (or subsequent) years. Make sure that the service includes provision for agreement with HMRC and/or the Valuation Office as part of any statutory enquiry periods.

The fixtures rules enacted under FA2012 ensure that the taxpayer has documented proof that entitlement exists and that the value is determined. These rules were developed as a result of HMRC's perceived view that an abuse of fixtures claims exists with a fear of duplication.

Whilst some advisors (not named or implied) may have a poor reputation, it is important to point out that there are many good firms operating, who have the appropriate mix of surveying and tax knowledge and proven experience.

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E3 Consulting Logo cluster
By E3Consulting
06th Apr 2013 00:24

Caveat Emptor! - Look for 'Badges of Trade'

The Capital Allowances market place has certainly become more crowded in recent years - as had Business Rating and SDLT before it - where some think there's a quick 'buck to be made'.  Long term relationships rely upon excellence of technical ability, great client service and value for money.

As David Henry and Paul Farey have covered well above some firms target novice purchasers of tax services' or 'one off' clients - those owning one commercial property be it: care home, bar, restaurant, hotel, Furnished Holiday Let (FHL), car dealership, factory, office, etc.

Established and reputable Capital Allowances advisers will operate alongside a wide array of accountants, solicitors, surveyors, engineers, funders etc of all shapes and sizes, often throughout the country to help ensure the client achieves the tax savings potentially available to them in their property expenditure.  I know of some advisers that have become embarrassed having recommended 'the wrong sort of specialist', with their own client relationship undermined by the excessive fees charged and poor outcomes achieved.

Most of the bona fide capital allowances practices have:

professionally qualified personnel - be they surveyors (MRICS/FRICS), tax consultants (ATT/CTA) or accountants (ACA/FCA CIMA ACCA...et al) - some even have dual qualified staff - not mysterious and unnamed "forensic surveyors"decent levels (£500,000+) of professional indemnity insurance - providing client reassurance if something does go wronghappy to provide details of referees - so you can talk to other clients to verify any details as to experience, skills, team involvement, deliveryoften had technical articles, bloggs and/or books published in the trade (Tax/Finance/Accountancy/Property) press/websites - though caution is required to spot advertorial coverage or superficial articles "urging immediate action to ensure you don't miss out" as time rarely denies tax benefits, but can defer, diminish or delay the cashflow benefits.been recognised by national, regional or sector specific awards - e.g. Chambers of Commerce, Taxation Awards, Accountancy Awards, Property/Building Awardsclear money laundering procedures to ensure client identities are verified within the legal requirement and regulated by either HM Revenue & Customs and/or one of the Professional Bodies - such as ACAEW, RICS, CIOT, ATT, etc with formalised complaints procedures

HMRC seem reluctant to pursue the worse offenders, despite their often outlandish claims of "HMRC approval" or use of "HMRC approved/agreed tables/methodologies" on their websites.  Most tax/accounting professionals will see through these, aware that HMRC doesn't approve specific firms - but to the unsuspecting purchaser of the services it can sound very plausible.

Capital Allowances can yield very significant tax savings and help boost cash flow of the entity incurring expenditure on virtually any commercial property and certain 'residential properties' - e.g. FHLs

There is a wide choice of firms, large and small with dedicated teams qualified and experienced in dealing with capital allowances from first thought through to acceptance with HMRC, Valuation Office as independent specialists - the thoroughbreds will be happy to take time to explain their services, explain the true cash/benefit of their services - both immediately and over time and provide references from happy clients and other professional firms they've worked with.  Far from the 'pressured sales techniques' of some.

Don't be afraid to ask for other quotes from other firms!

 

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Steven Bone
By Steven Bone
08th Apr 2013 10:53

Buyer Beware ...

Thank you for the positive mentions above.  The Capital Allowances Partnership Ltd has a couple of articles about this on our website:

The first is general guidance about choosing a capital allowances adviser: http://www.cap-allow.com/service-choosing-an-advisor.php

The second discusses the risks of appointing some advisers (not named or implied) http://www.cap-allow.com/target-too-good.php

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By Paul Jempson
01st May 2013 09:21

Let's Be Fair - Portal has a great marketing team

Yes, I know that they come across as forceful, aggressive and disparaging toward others but last year I gained 4 new clients due to Portal's marketing.  Why did I get the work?  Simple ... because I am willing to work with the client's accountants and when I prepare a proposal it is based on evidence - not a wet finger in the air.  Those four clients have been kind enough to let me have copies of the proposals that Portal prepared.  Telling the client of a shop shell that he will get 30% of the purchase price in Capital Allowances is too good to be true!  So, I feel that we should all be thanking Portal for being our unpaid sales staff.

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Aubrey Calderwood
By Aubrey Calderwood
28th Aug 2013 16:06

Disclosure of Referral Fees to Client

I don't wish to comment on specific companies but as the MD of a company which has been specialising in this area for 16 years I have two observations to make. 

Portal Tax Claims are but one of the legion of "new breed" capital allowances consultants that have come onto the scene in the last 2 or 3 years. By and large they are mainly from a financial services background used to selling financial products like mortgages, life assurance and PPI claims. They have excellent sales and marketing operations and we could learn a thing or two from them in that regard. 

However, anecdotally, last year we were asked to comment on a capital allowances claim prepared by a "new breed" capital allowances firm by one of their unhappy clients. "New Breed" had claimed Integral Features for Lighting, Cold Water and Power. The client had bought the property in 2005.  I will say no more about that - those who know will know.

“New Breed” generally offers attractive referral fees to accountants. The ICAEW at point 240.5 has this to say about referral fees - "

"Accepting such a referral fee or commission creates a self-interest threat to objectivity and professional competence and due care".

To safeguard against this threat they advise at point 240.7:

"Obtain advance agreement from the client for commission arrangements in connection with the sale by a third party of goods or services to the client" 

I have no problem per se with referral fees. However, I wonder how many accountants who accept them actually disclose that they do to their clients? 

 

 

  

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By QS_1
20th Apr 2016 13:15

Capital Allowances Claims

Sarah

Allowances/property taxation relief are usually within the scope of the chartered quantity surveyor (and especially a mechanical and electrical QS). It is their knowledge of construction, rates and ability to combine the two, that values the cost of the claimable allowances and justifies their apportionment within the building cost properly to RICS standards. This is of course is all applied in subordination to 2001 Act and and corresponding amendments. I have personal experience in CA's with a major UK and international QS firm and through private commissions, but would suggest the fee should be no more than you would expect to sell a house %tage wise + disbursements/travel ect. This may be 1.5 - 2.5% depending on the value of the CA's at the time of purchase. 

Don't be afraid of introducing you clients to property tax saving opportunities - that is what you there for in the main but disclose to your client your interest, if any, (apart from a satisfied client) as there will be work for you to do. Be above board explain to potential clients the value of claiming whilst in use and the law requirement at the time of selling for happier clients.

As for Portal, it appears to me from there website, their clients will not receive much of any rebate value as the rebate seems to be swallowed up in fees  - is this the opportunist "new breed". Additionally the services of a qualified practitioner claiming CA's has been lowered from a professional activity to band wagon level of some pushy financial services driven backgrounds.

Lastly, I recognise some of the contributors who I know as activists and writers on the subject.

Finally, team with an experienced QS to offer this service at the type of %tage fee I suggest.

 

Q_S MRICS 

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