Are you unhappy about the amount of tax that you and/or your business has to pay (or may have to pay in the future)? Do you wish to keep up to date with the latest tax planning ideas, news and developments? Since 1991, we have been publishing a monthly tax newsletter called The Schmidt Tax Report, as well as providing our subscribers with a free ‘Ask the Experts’ tax planning and advice service.

The Schmidt Tax Report is read by entrepreneurs, investors, and business decision makers, as well as by accountants, solicitors, financial advisors and other professionals including tax consultants (who say they find it an invaluable aide memoire)

Its primary objective is to explain (in plain English and without technical jargon) how you can, without behaving in an unethical way, legally save a substantial amount of tax. It also contains a great deal of other valuable information pertaining to tax, personal finance and property investment.

You will find news and articles from recent issues and more information about its content elsewhere on this website. However, before we say another word we want to reassure you regarding the cost. We are so confident that you will find The Schmidt Tax Report of value that we are happy to offer you:

• A trial issue so that you can judge the newsletter for yourself.
• 50% off your first year. Pay just £99 – which works out at a little over £8 a month.
• Immediate, free tax advice from our ‘Ask the Experts’ service for 30 days (even if you decide not to become a regular subscriber).

One of the real benefits offered by The Schmidt Tax Report is that it allows you to receive first-class tax advice from some of the UK’s leading experts at a fraction of the cost of a one-to-one consultation. After all, the £99 first year subscription would barely pay for ten minutes of an experienced tax consultant’s time.

Indeed, a recent survey of new subscribers revealed that the average tax saving achieved has been £36,418 (you’ll find details of the survey elsewhere on this website).

If you are interested in reducing your own tax bill, need help with your tax returns or if you have some other tax-related issue why not send for a trial issue? You’ll be under no obligation and it could save you a sizeable amount of tax!

Learn more about The Schmidt Tax Report

Personal tax advice

Your subscription allows you to receive first-class, personal tax advice from some of the UK’s leading experts at a fraction of the cost of a one-to-one consultation. After all, the £99 first year subscription would barely pay for ten minutes of an experienced tax consultant’s time. You may use this service during your free trial subscription period.

Summary of benefits

• Monthly newsletter focusing on ethical, legal tax saving.
• Written in plain-English and full of action points.
• Free ‘Ask the Experts’ service. Our editorial team is pleased to provide you with unlimited advice on any aspect your tax affairs.
• A focus on the most expensive taxes: income, capital gains, corporate, inheritance and national insurance although all taxes from VAT to SDLT and from Business Rates to Road Tax are covered.
• Special emphasis on extracting profits tax-free from businesses.
• Regular features on low- and no-tax investment planning including property.
• Advice on tax planning, tax returns, international tax, offshore planning, dealing with HMRC and other related topics.
• Tax news, personal finance news, property news.
• Alternative investment and property investment opportunities with special tax saving advantages.

Q&A with Alan Pink, editor

Q. Who should read The Schmidt Tax Report?

A. Anyone with an above average income or sizeable assets. Anyone with property. Anyone who owns (or part-owns) a business. Accountants, solicitors, IFAs and property managers with clients who have an above average income or sizeable assets.

Q. Will I find The Schmidt Tax Report relevant to my needs?

A. Are you thinking of starting, buying or selling a business? Do you own residential or other investment property? Is your retirement plan as tax efficient as it could be? Are you concerned about inheritance tax? Is your personal tax bill unacceptably high? Do you want to extract money or other assets from a business? Have you considered becoming an ex-pat? Do you own property abroad? Are you interested in tax-free and tax-efficient investment? How familiar are you with your rights if HMRC decides to investigate you? Tax touches every aspect of our personal and business lives. It makes sound financial sense to understand one’s options and to make savings wherever possible.

Q. Surely, tax is a rather boring subject?

A. ‘Boring’ is not the word I would employ to describe what could well be the single largest expense you and/or your business has to meet. It seems to be human nature to shop around for virtually every major purchase but to forget that the amount of tax we pay is not fixed in stone. There is a lot of choice involved.

Q. Politicians are always telling us it is our duty to pay our fair share. Surely, I should just pay whatever I am told?

A. Clearly, you must pay tax. And if the tax system was simple and fair and if parliament’s wishes were clear, I would agree with what you are saying. But the system is very complicated and often treats people in the same position entirely differently. I take a legalistic view. If the law says that you are entitled to reduce your tax liability by one method or another, I consider it is acceptable to do so. I would never, ever suggest engaging in any activity that was underhand, illegal or in some other way risky. In the case of business owners I always point out that tax is an overhead and it is important to review all overheads on a regular basis to make sure one is not wasting money.

Q. Can’t I just leave tax planning to my accountant?

A. Actually, a growing number of accountants subscribe to The Schmidt Tax Report. Why? It provides then with a plain-English, action-orientated summary of all the important tax developments as well as useful tax plans, case histories, checklists, news and ideas. Tax planning has become a specialism all of its own.

Tax is one of your highest overheads, naturally you want to reduce it

By Alan Pink, Editor

As an accountant and tax advice and planning specialist I spend a good deal of my time listening to entrepreneurs’ problems. Despite what you would expect, very few of them ever complain about such issues as lack of opportunity or a shortage of capital. What they are often worried about, however, is complying with a highly complex tax system that changes from month to month and, of course, finding the money to pay larger and larger amounts of tax.

Politicians talk on about how small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs) are the backbone of our economy, employing roughly half the workforce and accounting for roughly half of all business turnover, but when it comes to providing practical support they burden entrepreneurs with endless red tape and ever larger tax bills.

Moreover, together with the media there is a public perception that any business that tries to save tax is up to something unethical. This is deeply unfair. Tax, in its many guises, is generally a business’s single highest overhead. Naturally, it is simply sound commercial sense to make sure – without breaking the law – that it is not costing more than it has to. Indeed, it is a well established principle of British tax law that, as Lord Clyde put it:

No man in the country is under the smallest obligation, moral or other, so to arrange his legal relations to his business or property as to enable the Inland Revenue (HMRC) to put the largest possible shovel in his stores.

In fact, if you are an entrepreneur there are lots and lots of perfectly legitimate, no-risk methods by which you can dramatically reduce your tax bill. Methods that you will find described by my colleagues and me in The Schmidt Tax Report.

Why specialist tax planning is necessary

The Schmidt Tax Report is read by a growing number of accountants and independent financial advisors (IFAs).

Why?

Tax law has become so complicated that it requires specialist knowledge. The latest Finance Act is over five times longer than the same act was in the early 1980s and anyone who wishes to advise on tax must also stay on top of all the other relevant legislation as well as Her Majesty’s Customs and Revenue (HMRC) press releases and notices, court cases, rulings, tribunal hearings, learned opinions, specialist books and – literally – thousands of articles.

Moreover, whereas in the past the rules relating to such areas as non-residence, pensions, national insurance, self-employment, partnerships, gifts and so forth were relatively static, nowadays all the rules change all the time. It’s not just a matter of learning about tax, it’s a matter of re-learning it over and over again.

Accountants and IFAs find The Schmidt Tax Report an invaluable way to stay on top of all the important tax developments as a well as a source of possible tax saving for their clients. Other tax specialists also subscribe because it serves as a useful aide memoire. Best of all, it is in plain English and some accountants actually pay a small extra fee so that they can forward articles from The Schmidt Tax Report on to their own clients.

Incidentally, The Schmidt Tax Report is certain to contain ideas and advice that you can pass on to your accountant. It is worth subscribing for this reason alone.

What our readers say

How much can you actually hope to save? We were curious to know and so between 2011 and 2013 we polled a sample of new subscribers, asking them: ‘How much tax have you saved as a direct result of something you learned from our newsletter?’ This was the result:

Saved over £250,000

Saved £100,00 – £250,000

Saved £50,000 – £100,000

Saved £20,000 – £50,000

Saved £10,000 – £20,000

Saved £1,000 – £10,000

Saved under £1,000

On average Schmidt Tax Report readers saved £36,418. This is what a few of them told us:

‘Inspired by the article we have put in place an income splitting plan that reduces my tax bill on £200,000 income from £75,000 to £33,000.’
David Ross, Edinburgh.

‘We have re-organised our property holdings as suggested effectively doing away with any tax on our profits. The saving is worth around £3,500 a year.’
Steve Ellis, Kent.

‘For the first few issues I thought I had wasted my money but then in the February newsletter two simple things that have saved me £1,800 a year and got me a rebate of £2,140. Thank you.’
Joanna O’Sullivan, Hampshire.

‘I am delighted to say that your plan will mean I pay capital gains tax at 18% instead of income tax at the highest rate. A saving of over £72,000. Hurrah!’
Geoffrey Bush, Swansea.

‘Thank heavens (and thank you) we have sidestepped the problems we were about to have with the new anti-IHT avoidance rules and will be able to leave our home, which even in the current climate is worth over £1.5 million, tax free to our children.’
Mr & Mrs Philip Orr, Liverpool.

‘I get full tax relief on the money I put into my retirement fund. When I retire I can take as much as I want as a lump sum. Best of all, I am not going to be forced by the government to take out an annuity when I stop working. Your pension solution suits me perfectly.’
Colin Evans, Norwich

‘My colleagues and I are in the process of re-organising our business along the lines you describe and we confidently expect to save in the region of £14,000 – £17,000 each a year for the foreseeable future.’
Peter Hannart, Birmingham.

‘I have sold my business for £850,000 and won’t pay any tax on the proceeds saving me roughly £140,000. I would never have managed this if it wasn’t for your advice.’
Dr Yasmin Gupta, London

You’ll notice that the amount of tax saved by The Schmidt Tax Report readers varies dramatically from the tax advice given. You’ll have your own ideas about what a worthwhile amount of tax to save is, but one thing is certain: the longer you delay putting an effective tax reduction strategy in place, the more it is going to cost you. For whichever political party is in power over the next few years until the economy is transformed and the national debt reduced, the overall level of taxation is likely to continue rising.