"I would like to express my thanks again to Fred Butler and his team for the valuable support they have given me as an executor of an Estate contain a number of different assets, the result of which is we have needed detailed tax advice across the full range of taxes namely income tax, capital gains tax and Inheritance Tax. The advice has been both specific and formal where it has been possible to draw conclusions in an unequivocal way but often where this is not in point we have received practical and helpful commentary on matters that do require decisions to be made but the precise approach is tough to lay down. In this regard the Fred has been able to set out our options and so that the final way forward was clearly defined with all the relevant risks assessed.
It is likely in my estimation that Butler & Co has been providing a very high level of service through a generation of its existence.
I say this because that last time I had the benefit of the firm's advice was some 20 years ago in the early 2000s when Fred's Mother Julie Butler gave me absolutely crucial support over a difficult matter involving an Irish UK resident taxpayer who had an Irish domicile and extensive stallion covering fees arising from a Stud in Ireland.
A flawed attempt to use a discretionary trust had landed my client in a lot of trouble with the Special Office of HMRC in Bootle the result of which was that all the fees were exposed to tax in the UK.
Julie did a detailed review of precisely how the fees arose and especially how the stallion had retired from racing and had become a thoroughbred in this stud. She was able to show me how much of the activity could be properly presented within a trading structure and by using the statements of practice, how stallions carrying out these activities can be amortised as trading stock.
Once this was established we were able to create trading losses that could be utilised against the stallion fee income. I was very impressed by the work Julie did for me and that it was argued in an open and transparent manner as far as HMRC was concerned so that the result could not be challenged further down the line.
So in conclusion through my two experiences some 20 years apart I would have expected that Butler &Co has been providing this sort of cutting edge advice and support over a very long period."