VAT & Customs Duty Solutions Simplified.

Helping you navigate the world of VAT & Customs to maximise VAT savings and reduce risk

VAT and Customs are complex and confusing areas of taxation with HMRC disputes having a significant impact on businesses and individuals.

It is our mission to provide you with the highest quality of VAT and Customs advice, tailored to meet your specific needs. Our team of experienced VAT and Customs consultants have a deep understanding of the UK VAT and Customs systems and will provide you with the guidance and support you need. Whether you are a small business owner, a multinational corporation, or an individual with VAT-related concerns, we are here to help.

Browse our website to learn more about our services, and get in touch with us today to schedule a consultation with one of our experts.

VAT Inspections & Disputes
VAT on Property & Construction
On-Demand Virtual VAT Partner
VAT Healthchecks & Reviews
Customs Duty & International Trade

What We Do

Our main areas of Indirect Tax expertise are as follows:

  • VAT Inspections & Disputes

  • VAT on Land, Property & Construction projects

  • On-demand Virtual VAT Partner for accountants, lawyers and other advisers

  • VAT Healthchecks & Reviews

  • Customs Duty & International Trade

VAT is a transactional tax which means you need to be proactive. VAT is also notoriously complex and as such, getting the right advice, at the right time, can ensure you minimise the risk of costly errors.

Customs Duty is a cost for importers, therefore where it can be mitigated, it will mean savings for your business.

At Shipleys VAT & Customs our primary objectives are:

  • To offer solutions to VAT and Customs problems

  • To simplify complex matters so you can understand them

  • To focus on practicality and our clients

  • To provide assurance and protection

We work on all VAT and Customs matters no matter how complex and pride ourselves on being solutions based.

Our Team

Our VAT & Customs team are trusted VAT advisers to all types of businesses.

Whether you are an independent accountant, lawyer, or a business owner who requires support and advice when making VAT decisions, our team are here to assist.

  • Our VAT and Customs consultants have varied backgrounds, having worked for HMRC (ex-VAT Inspectors), the Big 4 accountancy firms and in industry.

  • Our VAT consultants are Qualified Chartered Tax Advisers and Accountants

  • We have many years of dealing with complicated VAT and Customs issues and disputes

HMRC VAT Disputes

We specialise in mitigating HMRC VAT liabilities relating to:

  • VAT Assessments

  • Penalties

  • Personal Liability Notices

Why you need specialist VAT advice for HMRC disputes?

Disputes with HMRC over VAT can have serious consequences for businesses and individuals. Whether it is a dispute over the amount of VAT owed, the liability of goods or services, whether VAT can be recovered on expenses, or the application of VAT regulations, seeking professional advice is crucial to ensure that the dispute is resolved in a fair and satisfactory manner.

We understand that VAT disputes can have a significant impact on cash flow, reputation, and the financial health of a business, and can lead to costly legal proceedings if not handled correctly. Moreover, the UK VAT system is complex, and navigating the rules and regulations can be challenging. Therefore, it is essential to seek expert advice during a VAT disputes to ensure that your interests are protected, and matters are resolved in a timely and effective manner.

Our experienced VAT consultants and ex-inspectors understand HMRC’s systems, processes and powers. As such, we will provide you with all the guidance and support you need to resolve your dispute. We can help you understand the options available to you, negotiate with HMRC, and represent you in legal proceedings if necessary.

VAT on Land, Property and Construction

We specialise in VAT advice and support for the UK property sector. Whether you are a property developer, contractor, landlord, charity, investor or estate agent, our team is here to help provide solutions to your VAT problems.

VAT can have a significant impact on property transactions, and mistakes can be costly and time-consuming. That is why it is our mission to provide commercial, pragmatic and timely advice to clients in the sector. We can help you to minimize your VAT liabilities, resolve disputes that may arise with HMRC, and ensure that your VAT obligations are met.

We understand the complex VAT rules applicable to Land, Property and Construction, therefore early involvement from us usually means we can mitigate more VAT on your project.

How can we help?

  • We can structure land and property transactions and developments to minimise VAT leakage

  • We can advise on the option to tax position on land and buildings, allowing you to decide when to opt, revoke or disapply an option to tax

  • We can advise on the VAT treatment of the disposal or acquisition of a property, including when it can be a TOGC

  • We can advise on the liability of construction services, the utilisation of available VAT reliefs and the application of the Domestic Reverse Charge

  • We can mitigate the effects of the capital goods scheme and partial exemption rules on land and property

  • We can advise charities and individuals on maximising VAT reliefs on the costs of building projects, including the submission “DIY” VAT reclaims

On Demand
Virtual VAT Partner Service

Are you an adviser needing cost effective VAT advice and technical support on-demand?

If so, our VAT Virtual Partner (VP) provides a VAT support service when you need it, at a cost-effective price.

Our VAT VP is dedicated to providing accountants, lawyers, advisers and their clients with practical VAT support, just like having your own in-house VAT Partner!

VAT Virtual Partner Service

  • Flexible and practical approach, allowing you to pick the arrangement that works best for you and your clients

  • White labelling our services to your clients allowing you to offer expert VAT services, increasing your servicing power and reputation

  • Ad-hoc advice using our VAT helpline

  • Provides answers to your queries

Some areas where our VAT Virtual Partner can assist:

  • Reviewing your work, giving a second opinion, checking your workings, checking or drafting a response to HMRC

  • Advisory reports, emails, memos and calls with your clients

  • Planning a transaction, or creating detailed planning guidance and crib notes for a meeting about a specific topic

  • Drafting tax clearances, providing working checklists with client advice notes

  • Assisting in managing VAT investigations and negotiating with HMRC

  • We can work behind the scenes, or act directly for you and your clients

  • We offer a strict “no poaching” guarantee

  • We can be used on an ad-hoc basis; there are no hidden costs, joining, or membership fees. It is priced competitively for even the smallest firms

As every VAT problem is different, we can adopt a flexible approach to suit you on a client-by-client basis. We aim to provide high-level VAT expertise for advisers who cannot employ a full time VAT expert.

VAT Reviews and Healthchecks

Our team of ex-VAT inspectors and big 4 consultants are well placed to carry out VAT Healthchecks which allow us to identify opportunities where your business is paying too much VAT or to identify risks where your business has made errors, allowing you to correct issues as required whilst mitigating HMRC penalties.

Shipleys VAT Healthcheck consists of:

  • A review of the liability of your supplies and income streams to ensure that you are paying the right amount of VAT to HMRC

  • Highlighting areas of opportunity and risk – we often save businesses VAT as a result of our Healthchecks

  • Reviewing your VAT recovery procedures and processes, ensuring you are making use of relevant reliefs

  • Reviewing the treatment of one-off and large transactions such as property transactions and deal fees

  • Determining which accounting scheme Is best suited to your business (such as the flat rate scheme, cash accounting, annual accounting etc)

  • Reviewing your accounting systems to ensure they are compliant with Making Tax Digital

  • Reviewing the implementation of specific VAT rules to your business for example partial exemption calculations, evidence of export for zero-rating, capital goods scheme calculations, VAT clawback and payback, retail schemes, margin schemes etc

  • Reviewing business systems from a cashflow perspective ensuring your business is set-up efficiently, making use of any relevant reliefs

As every business is different, our Healthchecks will be bespoke to the issues faced by your business and will add value.

Customs Duty
& International Trade

If your business is an importer or exporter of goods, we can assist by adding value and streamlining your processes in order to:

  • Help mitigate the cost of duties on imports

  • Assist businesses with HMRC audits and enquiries

  • Ensure all customs reliefs are utilised to maximise cash-flow and duty savings

  • Ensure VAT issues associated with importing and exporting are addressed

How can we help?

The areas where we concentrate our advice are:

  • 1

    Tariff/commodity codes – We ensure that you are classifying your goods correctly, and therefore paying the right amount of duty on imports.

  • 2

    Valuation – We ensure that you are only paying duty on the appropriate value of your goods.

  • 3

    Customs reliefs and simplifications – We understand your supply chain so that you can utilise customs reliefs such as inward processing, outward processing, customs warehousing to mitigate duty.

  • 4

    Origin and preference – We ensure that where goods originate from a preferential trade partner of the UK, preference is claimed so that. duty can be mitigated on imports into the UK and EU.

Our customs experts can assist with the complex post Brexit world of imports and exports to ensure you minimise the amounts of duty your business pays, whilst ensuring your supply chain remains efficient.

Get in touch with us today to schedule a consultation with one of our customs experts.

Our charges for VAT specialist services

We are upfront and flexible on costs.

  • Advisory work is generally charged on an hourly rate, however, we can quote a fixed fee for one-off projects so that you know the cost in advance.

  • Compliance work such as regular preparation of VAT returns can be agreed for a fixed fee.