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Corporate Finance and Deal Advisory
We offer a dedicated team of experienced individuals with a focus on successfully executing transactions for corporates and financial institutions. We offer an integrated approach, with our corporate finance specialists working seamlessly with tax and other specialists to ensure that every angle is covered.
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Digital Risk
Grant Thornton offers solutions to the digital risk issues you are sure to face. Our skilled and experienced security team can helping by advising and consulting, giving you peace of mind, clear value for money and an enhanced ability to react to attacks.
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Technology Consulting
Motivating and assisting our clients to pursue, maintain and secure the benefits of digital solutions is at the core of our Digital Transformation teams' agenda and goals. We work with business leaders to deliver efficient digital strategies and operating models that provide new or enhanced capabilities.
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Economic Advisory
Our all-island Economics Advisory team combines expertise in economics and business with a wealth of experience across the public and private sectors.
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Forensic Accounting
We have a different way of doing business by delivering real insight through a combination of technical rigour, commercial experience and intuitive judgment. We take pride in delivering responsive and tailored solutions to all our clients, capitalising on the wealth of experience housed within our Belfast and wider Forensics team
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People and Change Consulting
The Grant Thornton People & Change Consulting practice works with clients on these issues as well as on all aspects of how they attract, retain, engage develop, deploy and lead their people.
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We work with a wide variety of clients and stakeholders such as high street banks, private equity funds, directors, government agencies and creditors to implement solutions which provide the best possible outcomes.
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Corporate and International Tax
Northern Ireland businesses face further challenges as they operate in the only part of the UK that has a land border with a country offering a lower tax rate.
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Employer Solutions
Our team specialises in remuneration and incentive planning and works closely with employers, shareholders and employees to ensure that business strategies are aligned and goals achieved in the most tax efficient, cost-effective manner.
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Our team of experienced advisors are on hand to guide you through any decision or transaction ranging from the establishment of new business ventures, to realising value on exit, to succession planning and providing for loved ones.
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Global Mobility Services
Grant Thornton offer a different approach to managing global mobility. We have brought together specialists from our tax, global payroll, people and change and financial accounting teams across Ireland and Northern Ireland, while drawing on the knowledge and insights of our global network of over 143 offices of mobility professionals to provide you with a holistic approach to managing global mobility.
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Outsourced Payroll
Our outsourced service provides valued service to over 150 separate PAYE schemes. These ranging from 1 to 1000 employees, working for micro, SME and global employers. The service is supported by the integrated network of tax and global mobility teams and the wider Grant Thornton network delivering a seamless service. Experienced staff deliver a personal service built around your business needs.
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Tax Disputes and Investigations
Our Tax Disputes and Investigation team is made up of tax experts and former HMRC investigators who have years of experience in dealing with a variety of tax investigations. Our expertise and insight can guide you through all interactions, keeping your cost at a minimum while allowing you to continue with the day to day running of your business.
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VAT and Indirect Taxes
At Grant Thornton (NI) LLP, our team helps Northern Ireland businesses manage their UK and global indirect tax risks which, as transactional taxes, can quickly become big liabilities.
COVID-19 - Impact on Employment Tax
23 Mar 2020Employers with a globally mobile workforce are used to the challenges in navigating offshore employment compliance. The fast paced responses by governments such as travel bans and lockdowns as a result of the COVID-19 emergency, will add new layers of complexity to these arrangements.
Many employers are also requesting for health and safety reasons, together with calls from the government to undertake social distancing, that employees should work from home. As a result, a business may find itself having an accidental foreign workforce – particularly frontier workers where employees reside in another jurisdiction. Such employers may find themselves with unexpected foreign tax obligations, if an employee is now performing their duties in a different jurisdiction to their normal place of employment.
Usually the time a worker spends in an offshore workplace determines the tax reporting and withholding obligations for both the employer and employee. There is a wide global network of cross border agreements and concessions in place to protect workers from double taxation however, how they are operated often depend on the residency position of the employee and the duties they are performing.
In the UK, the ‘day count’ rules on residency allow for ‘exceptional’ days to be discounted for tax residency purposes however, employers should review the position where workers are now prevented from travelling. Broadly, the ‘day count’ rules for overseas reporting obligations do not currently allow for such exceptions.
In addition, the following employment tax reporting arrangements may be impacted where employees working patterns change as a result of the Covid-19 measures:
- Short term business visitor agreements (‘STBVA’) permit overseas business visitors to work in the UK for up to a maximum of 183 days provided certain conditions are met, before UK payroll is required.
- Appendix 5 arrangements allow employees to claim relief from foreign tax through the UK payroll; and
- S690 relief permit employers of some UK residents working abroad, to split their payroll reporting obligations between jurisdictions.
A number of overseas tax authorities have brought in emergency time to pay arrangements and extension to certain deadlines. For example, Italy has suspended all tax withholding and related obligations and Hong Kong have announced one off tax reductions and payments. The US is currently reviewing a payroll tax relief and China is addressing residency status for foreigners unable to leave.
To ease the burden on employers, the UK government has pushed out proposed changes to the contractor tax legislation due to start in April 2020 for 12 months, which will provide much needed delay on significant administration and increased payroll costs.
However, it remains to be seen how HM Revenue and Customs, along for other foreign tax authorities will address these new challenges for employers with mobile workforces.
If you need any advice on how to deal with your employees who are currently overseas or have any queries, please contact Jane Lee.
