The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot.

05 Nov 2024

The downside of being a tax adviser is sometimes you are seen as the ‘nay-sayer’. And sometimes accused of being the person who throws a last-minute spanner in the works.

Why? Because tax advisers are often only consulted towards the end of the planning process when everything else has already been decided. The result: considerable disruption to the original ‘game plan’ and, on occasion, a delay to the planned timeline for the transaction.

Most tax advisers will say (in unison!) that failure to consult in time is the number one reason transactions go off track.

Of course this is a generalisation, and for some transactions it matters more than others. For example, if a client requires a simple entry into a UK Customs warehouse or advice on a sale in Guernsey, it is possible the advice can be arranged quickly, and the supporting declarations or other actions can be completed in time.

However, any advice that involves complex parties or requires external input or approvals (for example from a local tax authority for a VAT registration), can take more time than envisaged in the original transaction plan. It is crucial to allow enough time to ensure, especially for international transactions for example, that the asset does not arrive into the territory before the correct arrangements are in place. Failure to do so can result in a breach of regulations, and can result in unintended tax consequences, or worse, inhibiting the intended use of the asset.

In the worst-case scenario it can be extremely difficult to predict how much time will be needed to get the transaction over the line. We have seen situations where the sale of an aircraft is suddenly disrupted by an AOG (‘aircraft on the ground’) event, or the aircraft becomes stuck because of a legal dispute, or where the aircraft has been incorrectly declared to the local customs. In each case the situation was unexpected, required tax advice, caused huge headaches for the parties involved, and took significant time and effort to achieve a satisfactory result.

At Martyn Fiddler we always encourage early discussions and take pride in fully supporting our clients and their advisory teams throughout the transaction. While we often work to tight timescales, we will always do our best to safeguard the transaction plan and always ensure our client is fully tax compliant.

As a wise Michael Altshuler once said: “The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot.”

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