Expertise
Geoff advises UK and international high net worth individuals, trustees and companies on UK and cross-border tax and related issues including:
- Wealth and succession planning, including Wills and trusts
- Interaction between common and civil law
- Interaction between US and UK law
- Residence and domicile
- Remittance basis taxation
- Relocating to and from the UK
- Funding UK expenditure from non-UK sources tax-efficiently
- Structuring tax efficient UK inward investment, especially in residential and commercial property
- Settlors, trustees and beneficiaries of offshore trusts, pensions and remuneration and reward structures
- Administering complex UK and cross-border estates
- How to comply with UK tax and AML legislation, the UK Trust Register and Overseas Entities Register
As a member of the Law Society's Capital Taxes Sub-Committee, he is involved with consultations and submissions to HMRC and the Treasury concerning proposed changes to UK tax law and HMRC guidance on this, particularly in the areas of trusts, estates, residence, domicile and remittance basis taxation.
Geoff uses his many years of experience to help his colleagues, clients and their other professional advisors navigate through the UK’s tax legislation, now reckoned as the world’s longest (and certainly one of the most complex).
As well as advising on (and creating) new trust and other structures, Geoff helps existing ones adapt to changes in tax and other circumstances and where they have reached the end of their useful life, assists with a tax-efficient winding-up.
Geoff now combines advising clients with being a professional support lawyer for his colleagues.
Geoff uses his many years of experience to help clients and their other professional advisors navigate through the UK’s tax legislation, now reckoned as the world’s longest (and certainly one of the most complex).
As well as advising on (and creating) new trust and other structures, Geoff helps existing ones adapt to changes in tax and other circumstances and where they have reached the end of their useful life, assists with a tax-efficient winding-up.
Experience
- Advising a US trust on structuring the funding and acquisition of a UK residential property for US citizen UK resident beneficiaries to occupy to mitigate UK capital gains tax, income tax, inheritance tax and SDLT.
- Advising a Maltese family on, and assisting with, creation of a Maltese-law trust on funding and acquisition of a UK residential property.
- Advising on conferring UK tax-efficient benefits and loans from a Jersey trust to its UK resident adult and minor beneficiaries.
- Administering the estate and trust under the English-law Will of a US citizen, including winding-up that trust in a UK and US tax-efficient way, in conjunction with the family’s US attorney.
- Helping the administrators of several Jersey companies with the UK-tax efficient transfer of various UK residential properties, whose leases were being extended, to their shareholder, including assistance with associated UK tax filings.
- Advising a US entrepreneur on UK tax issues on relocating with his family to the UK and purchasing a new family home in London as well as liaising with his US advisors and family office.
- Advising the trustee and settlor of several connected Jersey trusts, including on restructuring to mitigate UK tax on the settlor returning to the UK and becoming UK tax resident and domiciled as a result.