THE SPEAR’S 500 Tax & offshore


Mark Taylor Buzzacott


FOCUS Tax investigations and dispute resolution


Daniel Sopher Sopher + Co


FOCUS Tax, mediation, succession planning


enquiries@sopherco.com +44 (0)20 7493 0100 sopherco.com


Daniel Sopher wields formidable expertise in advising owner-managed businesses, entrepreneurs and HNW individuals and families. He’s not known for mincing his


words. ‘Tax is going up; things are becoming tougher,’ he says. With ‘big changes in capital gains tax and inheritance tax’ on the horizon he is braced for the challenge. Sopher has also noted the trend towards increased transparency: ‘People are now having to deal with extra compliance issues, more disclosure for their company to their client base, and things like that.’ Offshore financial centres, meanwhile, are trying to compete to see who is ‘whiter than white’.


Adviser profile Daniel Sopher has been Sopher + Co’s senior tax partner since 2014. He specialises in both corporate and personal taxes, with well-established credentials in the private client sector. He advises HNWs, non-domiciles, families,


entrepreneurs and their businesses across many sectors. Sopher’s major strength is his ability to foresee and bring to the table a full range of possible issues and outcomes for clients, providing creative yet pragmatic and commercial solutions to complex matters. Having recognised the changing nature of the role of tax adviser, Sopher most recently trained in mediation, helping clients resolve their differences without causing rifts in family relationships.


Lisa Vanderheide Stewarts


FOCUS Dispute resolution and investigations


lvanderheide@stewartslaw.com +44 (0)20 7822 8000


Lisa Vanderheide is a director in tax litigation and investigations, advising clients on all aspects of their HMRC interactions. Whether there is a disagreement with HMRC regarding a technical issue, suspected tax fraud, or a client involved in a tax avoidance arrangement under enquiry needing assistance, she navigates the relationship between the client and HMRC to arrive at the best solution. Defining her approach as ‘collaborative’, she says that ‘success comes from good professional relationships. This applies equally to my interactions with HMRC.’ She describes her move from her role at HMRC to private practice as the most pivotal moment in her career. Her previous role gave her ‘a detailed understanding of how HMRC operates’.


Adviser profile Lisa Vanderheide is a Tax Director at Stewarts where she jointly leads the Tax Investigation team. Lisa has over 30 years of tax investigation and tax dispute experience, having trained as a Tax Inspector in HMRC where she spent 16 years and then moving to the private sector in 2002. Lisa specialises in helping a wide


range of clients with their HMRC tax issues, including individuals, partnerships and companies. She has particular experience dealing with suspected fraud enquiries (‘COP 9’), large technical enquiries (‘COP 8’), disclosure of tax irregularities, and assisting clients that have invested in tax avoidance arrangements. Lisa regularly writes for the tax press and presents on tax dispute issues.


James Walker Haysmacintyre


FOCUS Non-doms


jwalker@haysmacintyre.com +44 (0)20 7969 5516


‘The UK’s tax regime is complex and ever evolving, so I aim to be my clients’ guide,’ says James Walker, a private client tax partner at Haysmacintyre. Walker began his career in the Channel Islands, qualifying as both a chartered accountant and chartered tax adviser. He describes his approach as being ‘whatever the client would like me to be’ as a tax adviser. ‘If that means someone who is in the background merely as a service provider, then so be it,’ he says. ‘However, if that means someone who is more of a “friend” and trusted adviser, then I very much enjoy that role too. Either way, I hope to be someone they trust.’


Adviser profile James Walker is a partner within Haysmacintyre’s Private Client and Trusts team specialising in the UK taxation of non-UK domiciles and their related structures, such as trusts and underlying corporate groups. The UK’s tax system is designed to encourage people and funds into the UK offering very tax efficient routes to do so, but these come with significant complexities and potential pitfalls so James aims to help his clients navigate those complexities and pitfalls allowing them to make the best use of the rules without overstepping the boundaries. In this age of social responsibility, this approach helps James’ clients enjoy and maintain their family wealth while still being able to sleep comfortably.


A former HMRC investigator, Mark Taylor now heads up the tax investigations and dispute resolution team within Buzzacott. In this role he focuses on supporting clients subject to HMRC enquiries, with the aim of minimising unnecessary tax, interest and penalties. The practice also consults directly with HMRC on its enforcement and compliance work. ‘We do not shy away from advising HMRC where we believe that they are failing to act fairly,’ he tells Spear’s. ‘We have a good working relationship with them, so when we express concern, they listen.’ Taylor also sits on the compliance and investigations committee of the ICAEW tax faculty and the executive committee of the Tax Investigation Practitioners Group (TIPG).


Wendy Walton BDO


FOCUS Global family governance


Wendy Walton is one of BDO’s key figures, having climbed the ranks since starting as a trainee. ‘I decided I wanted to be a partner almost immediately,’ she says. At first her role was focused on UK individuals and families; today, international HNWs with complex tax affairs make up most of her client base, coming from jurisdictions such as Jersey, Hong Kong and France. A vast majority are entrepreneurs, business owners, family offices, private offices and UHNW families. Her tried-and-tested strategy is


‘to consider what the client wants to achieve and then work through a plan of how to get there, considering the tax implications along the way’. She now sits as the head of BDO’s global private client services.


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