Keyserswey 101
February 21, 2023
February 21, 2023

Steve Gully is a highly experienced fiduciary and company director with over 20 years of experience in the international financial services industry. He has worked in companies that have undergone acquisition, acquisition of others and have been sold, demonstrating his adaptability and ability to cope with change. With a significant background working in an International Private Bank, Steve has developed detailed knowledge of the UK property markets for residential, commercial, agricultural, investment, and development projects.
Steve is also a proven leader with excellent people management skills, and strong commercial, technical, and solution-oriented skills. He has acted as a trusted advisor to a number of UHNW families and individuals and has held appointments as a board member on regulated financial services businesses, trading companies, and joint venture companies. His areas of expertise include Trust and Fiduciary Management, Wealth Management, Trust Law, Fiduciary Compliance, Family Office, Private Trust Companies, UHNWI/HNWI, Offshore structuring, Discretionary Management, Administration services, and Contentious Disputes.
February 20, 2023
Understanding the non-dom regime is crucial to ensure you comply with the tax laws and avoid penalties. Kreston Global HNWI expert, Steve Gully, Director at Alex Picot Trust, discusses the non-dom regime, recent changes, and the impact of the 2023 UK Spring Budget on non-doms with eprivateclient. Read the full article here, or the summary below.
The non-dom regime is a tax system that applies to individuals who are not domiciled in the UK. Non-doms have to pay tax on their UK income and gains, but they are not taxed on their foreign income and gains if they do not bring them to the UK.
Non-doms can choose to pay tax on the remittance basis, which means they only pay tax on the income and gains they bring to the UK. This can be an advantage for non-doms who have significant income and gains outside the UK. However, they must pay an annual charge to use the remittance basis if they have been UK resident for more than seven years.
In 2017, the UK government introduced new rules that affect the non-dom regime. Under these rules, non-doms who have been resident in the UK for 15 out of the last 20 years must pay tax on their worldwide income and gains. In addition, non-doms who have a UK residential property in a company structure are also subject to inheritance tax.
The 2023 UK Spring Budget introduced several changes that affect the non-dom regime. Firstly, the annual charge for non-doms who have been UK resident for more than seven years has increased from £30,000 to £60,000. Secondly, the threshold for paying tax on worldwide income and gains has been reduced from 15 out of the last 20 years to 10 out of the last 15 years. Thirdly, non-doms who have a UK residential property in a company structure will now be subject to capital gains tax when they sell the property.
Understanding the non-dom regime is crucial for individuals who are not domiciled in the UK. It is essential to comply with tax laws and avoid penalties. The recent changes introduced in the 2023 UK Spring Budget have significant implications for non-doms, and it is essential to seek professional advice to ensure you understand your tax obligations fully. Remember that the non-dom regime is complex, and the rules are continually changing, so it is crucial to keep up to date with the latest developments.
If you would like to speak to Steve Gully about any impact the changes in the Spring Budget have had on your investments, get in touch.
February 14, 2023
The latest James Cowper Kreston Finance Update newsletter for February 2023 is here.
The UK-based firm has released an easy-to-digest finance update newsletter, highlighting the key issues that affect businesses from the start of this year. In addition, it offers a helpful summary of the most recent economic developments in the United Kingdom, giving global readers the key headlines impacting businesses this month. Including insight on the energy support bill reductions and interest rates raised to the highest level in 14 years, the February financial update is a bite-sized version of the UK economic landscape.
There is also an opportunity to register for their upcoming seminar on Tuesday, 21 February. The free, 45-minute seminar, “Managing Businesses in Uncertain Times – Directors’ Responsibilities,” will welcome specialists to discuss what Business Directors should understand regarding their responsibilities and obligations and provide insight into how to mitigate risks they may face while navigating the UK’s challenging economy.
To find out more about James Cowper Kreston, click here. Click here to read the James Cowper Kreston newsletter in full.
February 10, 2023
The Kreston Academies Benchmark Report shows escalating anxieties among academy trusts regarding the future of their financial health. Although there are considerable surpluses in the sector, per-student income has increased by a mere 1% against inflation rates of over 10%, higher energy costs, and teacher pay increases. Consequently, 88% of trusts anticipate future decreases in surpluses and reserves.
The sector’s financial surpluses are lower than in the previous record-breaking year. However, a substantial number of single academy trusts (SATs) in the primary sector (47%) reported deficits for 2021/22, indicating that larger trusts have tremendous fiscal success.
This is the first time primary SATs have seen average in-year deficits in four years. This is due to a few primary SATs with huge deficits caused by capital and maintenance expenditures that pulled down the overall average.
The Office of National Statistics (ONS) has reported a 30% rise in capital spending compared to 2022. This is due to a predicted drop of at least 12% in primary and nursery school attendees in the next 6 years, resulting in a 7.4% decrease in MAT revenue reserves per pupil from £802 to £743. Despite this, larger trusts with more than 7,500 pupils still achieve surpluses similar to 2021. 70% of MATs expect growth by 2023/24, with 5% expecting growth of 7+ schools for both 2023 and 2024.
There was a noticeable decrease in grant funding for academies that moved trust in 2021/22, with only 23% receiving it compared to 63% back in 2014/15. The total level of funding was £1.73m, significantly lower than the £3.16m seen last year.
If you are interested in the Kreston Academies Benchmark Report, have a UK-based academy trust, and would like accounting advice and support, please get in touch with one of our members here.
February 8, 2023
BANSBACH has acquired strong partners in the growth region of Lake Constance, with Dr. Altmann in Überlingen, the tax consultancy firm Böttinger in Frickingen-Altheim and Bodensee Treuhand GmbH Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft, effective 1 January 2023.
With a total of 35 colleagues, WP/StB Dr. Michael Altmann and WP/StB Wendelin J. Böttinger will manage their respective locations and, together with StB Olaf Gläser, will be responsible for the development of the Lake Constance region. Bodensee Treuhand will provide auditing services alongside BANSBACH GmbH. This merger enables BANSBACH to offer its comprehensive advisory services in the Lake Constance area, with continuity through regular contacts and personnel. Services include bookkeeping, preparation, and auditing of annual financial statements, accounting and audit-related consulting services, national and international tax and legal consulting, transaction services, and business consulting services for CFOs.
For more information on the ongoing BANSBACH growth and doing business in Germany, click here.
February 1, 2023
January 23, 2023
LONDON – Kreston Global has begun 2023 by welcoming eight new member firms on four continents: India, Uganda, Lebanon, Japan, Croatia, Bangladesh, Chile and Taiwan.
The eight new member firms are:
Kreston Croatia was founded by Managing Partner Ivan Pečur who has worked in a number of international accountancy organisations over the last 16 years as an audit partner. He is joined by two other partners.
Bhatia & Bhatia was founded in 1981 and provides audit, tax and accounting services to a range of domestic and international clients. It works closely with a broad base of affiliated chartered accountant firms across all major cities in India.
Kreston HM was founded by Managing Partner Hitesh Mehta in 2005. It provides audit, accounting services and tax advisory to international and local clients from its offices in Kampala and Jinja. It has three partners and 45 staff.
Accurate Accounting & Audit was founded in 2021 and is led by four certified auditors. It has over 20 staff based in its central Beirut offices, providing services to corporate and private clients across the construction and building supplies, professional partnerships, hospitality, retail and sports sectors.
Maria Howlader and Co is based in Dhaka, Bangladesh and comprises 34 employees and offers audit, accounting and tax services to international businesses and foreign subsidiaries based in Bangladesh and overseas.
Kreston ATC Chile is a newly established firm in Chile, based in Santiago. The firm has 24 staff and five partners, and is led by Managing Partner Hans Caro. The firm is made up of previous Kreston partners including Ricardo Gameroff who is already involved with the Kreston network through the Global Audit and Quality
Groups. The firm has a number of international clients and specializes in external and internal audits, taxes, risk advisory, forensics, payroll and bookkeeping.
Top New & Co is based in Taipei, Taiwan and is returning to the Kreston network after a few months away. Run by Yashu Hung, who is the lead audit partner, together with two other audit partners and a staff of 20, they offer audit and accounting services to a range of privately owned and not-for-profit organisations.
2022 saw Kreston Global holding its hugely successful network-wide conference in Madrid, the first in-person conference the network has held since the pandemic began. 2022 also saw the launch of its first Environmental, Social and Governance Advisory Committee, launch of new international steering groups for Internal Audit, Transfer Pricing and Life Sciences, and lastly a flagship thought leadership report, ‘The Interpreneur Mindset’.
Liza Robbins, Chief Executive of Kreston Global, said:
“It is with great pleasure that I welcome our latest joiners to the Kreston Global network. To have eight firms join in a short period is a major achievement, but to have eight firms of this calibre join is a significant testament to our depth and breadth.
“In recent years we have spent a great deal of time evaluating and fine-tuning our strategy. We have listened closely to our members, working with them on a range of areas and launching a number of exciting new initiatives. I am excited to move into 2023 with both our existing and new colleagues as we continue to develop our proposition to the entrepreneurial business community.”
Get in touch to talk about how Kreston Global firms can help your expanding business in these eight countries.
Stuart Brown, Head of Technical and Compliance at Duncan & Toplis and Kreston Global ESG Committee spokesperson has been invited to comment on the recent ESG reporting updates by Compliance Week.
The article in Compliance Week outlines how the European Union is set to shake up corporate reporting on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) goals by introducing new regulations. Companies are being urged to use 2023 to prepare for these changes and stakeholders’ expectations.
Regulators in the EU have been increasingly vocal about the need for companies to act more sustainably and report their actions and progress in achieving ESG goals in a more meaningful and transparent manner. Last month, the EU agreed to pass legislation to do just that.
The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) will introduce more detailed reporting requirements for large and listed companies on non-financial areas such as environmental impacts, social rights, human rights, and corporate governance. The directive will ensure that sustainability information will sit alongside financial information and be audited, which means that the initial compliance cost for companies could be significant as the amount of data that needs to be collected will likely increase, along with the number of people involved in the integrated reporting process.
The CSRD will apply to large companies already covered by the EU’s non-financial reporting directive from 2025 and other companies incrementally year-on-year through 2029, depending on their size and/or revenues. For the 2025 financial year, companies with a net turnover of 40 million euros (U.S. $42.5 million) or more, at least €20 million (U.S. $21.2 million) in assets, and 250-plus employees will need to report. Around 50,000 organizations in the European Union or with EU-based subsidiaries will need to comply.
In a Nov. 9 speech, Mairead McGuinness, European commissioner for financial stability, financial services, and the capital markets union, said, “For the first time …we are putting sustainability reporting on an equal footing with financial reporting.” She added that the final text of the CSRD provides a good basis for alignment with the EU’s proposed Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, which is currently being negotiated between the European Commission, European Parliament, and the European Council and aims to further improve long-term corporate governance.
On Nov. 23, the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group, which provides technical advice to the European Commission, submitted its first draft of CSRD standards, which the commission must review/amend before making them available for public consultation in the spring. Under the 12 standards, companies would be required to publish comprehensive and comparable information about their sustainability, from their environmental impact regarding pollution, climate change, and biodiversity to workers’ rights, communities affected by their operations, and the impact on customers.
Stuart Brown, Kreston Global ESG committee member was invited to comment, stating he felt that businesses should not feel overwhelmed by the new compliance directive, but see it as an opportunity to assess their own ESG risks.
Get in touch to discuss your ESG reporting with one of our experts.
January 16, 2023

Meera heads up the James Cowper Kreston VAT & Duty services and leads firm services into South East Asia.
She has built up extensive technical knowledge over more than 20 years specialising in VAT taking a practical approach and successfully arguing against HMRC to achieve substantial VAT savings and compensation for clients.
Meera’s experience covers business restructuring (mergers and acquisitions), VAT cost reduction strategies, international cross-border supply chains, partial exemption methods, land and property transactions, film production, charities, VAT planning and mitigation and assisting businesses with disputes with HMRC. With a number of years of experience at HM Revenue and Customs, she brings a range of skills and expertise in inspections and negotiations, valuable to clients.
January 5, 2023
We are often required to offer advice on VAT on UK imports. If your business is not established in the UK and you intend to import goods for resale there, you need to consider your VAT compliance obligations. Your business is likely to be required to register for and pay VAT on the first import of goods and subsequent sale.
Referred to by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) in the UK as a “non-established taxable person”, abbreviated to NETP, the overseas business does not have a fixed establishment in the UK. They trade using their overseas entity, absent a UK branch registered at Companies House.
A fixed establishment has all of the following:
• A UK physical location with a degree of permanence;
• Human resources under the control of the overseas business;
• Resources capable of making and receiving supplies of goods or services.
The following characteristics alone do not create a fixed establishment.
• Storage of goods;
• Computer servers;
• Accountants or an agent’s UK address;
• A UK VAT registration number, without the three positive indicators (location, staff, capability);
• Employees moved to the UK temporarily, for a time-specific project.
A NETP, cannot make use of the UK VAT registration threshold, whereas a UK-established business can make £85,000 of taxable sales in the UK in any 12-month period, before compulsorily VAT registration. A NETP must compulsorily register for VAT when they make their first taxable sale of goods they import into the UK. If services are provided from overseas businesses to UK businesses, which are subject to the Reverse Charge procedure by the UK recipient, these supplies do not force the overseas company to register for VAT in the UK. Possible business models were available to a NETP selling goods in the UK.
If the platform delivers goods or processes payments, HMRC requires that the marketplace is liable for declaring UK VAT to HMRC. This is a separate topic, but mentioned here in passing.
If you own a non-established overseas business and you would like to discuss your VAT needs, please get in touch with one of our Indirect Tax experts today.
December 23, 2022
Congratulations to Kreston firm BANSBACH who round off a successful 2022 by significantly improving their ranking in JUVE‘s Top Tax Employers 2023, moving up eight places to 14th in the country.
This is largely a result of employee workplace innovations such as part-time partnerships and the option to work from home, but also a significant strategic expansion plan. This has seen BANSBACH adding a number of acquisitions and strategic partnerships with firms like O&R Oppenhoff & Rädler in Munich as well as adding an entire team from BDO in Freiburg.
Find the article here: BANSBACH | juve-steuermarkt.de
October 31, 2022
October 21, 2022

Alex is joint Managing Partner for James Cowper Kreston in the UK, and an Audit and Assurance partner acting for many owner managed organisations and individuals. He has a specialist knowledge of the film industry and also is a member of the Kreston Global Audit Group.
September 22, 2022
After several high-profile failures and large company collapses in recent years, the audit sector has found itself under heavy scrutiny.
In fact, 2021/22 saw a record amount of fines issued by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) totalling £46.5 million – almost triple the £16.5m issued in the year before.
The ripple effect of large company collapses has taken its toll on public trust in audit and corporate governance, particularly when it comes to the performance of the UK’s four largest audit firms.
As the Government implements new audit reforms and the market slowly shifts away from the Big Four, smaller audit clients can also expect to see some impacts as a result of these changes.
Earlier this year, the Government published a set of wide-reaching reforms to the audit sector, which aim to tackle the dominance of the Big Four, reduce the risk of sudden company collapses, and ultimately restore some trust in the profession.
These include replacing the FRC with a new Audit, Reporting and Governance Authority (ARGA).
ARGA will have a number of new powers compared to the old regulator, including the ability to ban failing auditors from reviewing large companies’ accounts, sanction directors of large companies for breaches of duty, and oversee professional bodies’ regulation of the accountancy profession.
The reforms also bring more large private companies within scope of the regulator, redefining public interest entities as those with more than 750 employees and £750 million in annual turnover.
Another key reform means FTSE 350 companies will be required to conduct part of their audit with a challenger firm outside of the Big Four – a move intended to improve competition in the market.
A recent report from the FRC shows this shift is already happening to some extent. While in 2017, Big Four firms audited 96.8% of FTSE 250, that percentage had dropped to 89.2% by 2022.
And when it came to the UK market outside of those largest firms, the Big Four’s share had reduced from 74.2% to 28.2% over the same period of time.
So while the Big Four remains dominant over the UK’s largest companies, smaller companies are now seeing a much broader choice in the audit market, and are increasingly likely to work with a challenger firm.
In theory, this increased competition should mean you see higher-quality work as an audit client, with rivalry between auditors encouraging enhanced services and lower fees.
The reality would appear to be that firms are spending more time on audits which does improve quality. However, this also comes at a cost because firms have realised that they need to increase fees to a level commensurate with the work that they are doing. Therefore, audit fees have actually risen rather than fallen.
In addition, because firms are spending more time on audits, without an increase in the total number of auditors there will be a reduction in capacity in the audit market. This can be seen in the market, and it has made it hard for some companies and particularly not for profit entities to find auditors willing to quote for work.
Another key change for smaller audit clients to look out for is the loosening of reporting requirements.
At the same time as it published its consultation response in May, the Government also announced plans to update the definition of micro-enterprises, with the aim of reducing the reporting burden on smaller businesses.
Micro-enterprises are currently defined as those which employ fewer than 10 people and have a turnover or annual balance sheet below €2 million.
The Government believes this threshold could be “forcing too many of Britain’s smallest businesses to spend time and money preparing accounts to a level of detail only needed for larger companies”.
It also says it will consider the reporting requirements on smaller public interest entities, and review the current restrictions on remunerating directors in shares.
Broadly speaking, the Government has been keen to emphasise that smaller businesses will see no extra regulations under the reforms – its focus is instead on the UK’s largest companies.
Get in touch to talk about how changes to the audit market could affect you.

Tax Partner at BHP dealing with tax advice to businesses and owner managers. Advising clients on a range of issues including VAT, property transactions, share schemes, reorganisations and company valuations. A corporate tax specialist with extensive experience in claiming tax reliefs for innovation, such as R&D tax credits and the Patent Box.
September 13, 2022
On 20 July 2022 (Legislation Day), the UK Government revealed draft legislation for the upcoming changes to R&D tax relief. Many of the changes, which form part of the forthcoming Finance Bill 2022/23, had already been anticipated prior to the announcement, but it is always interesting to see what the detail looks like. One area that was awaited with interest was the proposal that companies notify their intention to make R&D claims in advance.
From 1 April 2023, companies will need to digitally pre-notify HMRC of any planned R&D claims, and within six months of the end of the period to which the claim relates.
Fortunately, businesses that have claimed in one of the preceding three accounting periods will not need to pre-notify. This key exemption to the pre-notification ruling is welcome news for all companies that have claimed R&D tax relief in a recent accounting period but, for those who haven’t, it could prove to be a headache.
Also from April 2023, tax reliefs will be refocused towards innovation undertaken in the UK, meaning that expenditure on subcontracted R&D and externally provided workers (EPWs) must be incurred within the UK, while additional relief will be denied for any R&D activity performed overseas.
Other key changes highlighted on Legislation Day include the expansion
of qualifying expenditure to incorporate costs for data and cloud computing associated with R&D, and that all Corporation Tax returns that contain an R&D claim will need to be submitted to HMRC by way of a digital service.
Under the existing rules, a company can make a claim for the previous two accounting periods because they have a statutory right to amend a tax return up to 12 months after the filing deadline.
But the new rules state that, if the business hasn’t made a claim in any of the preceding three accounting periods, it wouldn’t be able to submit a claim for the two previous periods that would normally be open (under the current rules), since notification must take place within six months
of the end of the accounting period in question. This is the case even though the statutory deadline for filing or amending these returns is yet to pass. Therefore, retrospective claims may not be possible without being proactive.
If you need to make an R&D claim for a previous accounting period, you must do so before 1 April next year. If you or your clients need some further guidance on this, please contact our Global head of R&D Tax, Dean Pearson.
August 11, 2022
Congratulations to our German member firm, Kreston Bansbach, whose consulting arm Bansbach Econum, has been ranked among the top consulting firms in Germany in the Handelsblatt 2022 Best Consultants list.
They have been ranked for excellence in the Pharma and Healthcare industries, as well as for their expertise in the Family Business and Mid Market sectors, and for their work in Restructuring and Turnaround.
The peer group survey is run by Handelsblatt Research Institute and asks around 16,000 participants to rate their top consulting peers companies in 22 categories”.
Ranking 2022: These are the best management consultants (handelsblatt.com).
July 28, 2022
Our Spanish member firm, Kreston Iberaudit, has recently formed a partnership with Valgianni, an Andorran-based accountant and business adviser, due to the considerable advantages offered by this country and principality. If you are interested in finding out more about opportunities for inward investment, here are some Youtube video links (https://youtu.be/5LtplR1XWBk, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66u3GfhUu1o) or there are some factsheets available here or you can contact Elena Ramirez at Kreston Iberaudit for more information.