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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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Restructuring
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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Entrepreneur and Private Client Taxes
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.
Most new year articles will start with some housekeeping…with HM Revenue & Custom (HMRC) and dynamic coding, basic housekeeping for employees is vital to stay connected and keep HMRC up to date. Employees should pay attention to three basic items, their: Address, Tax code, and student loan type (where applicable).
The first two are linked, as a significant majority of communication from HMRC is paper-based. If HMRC don’t know where you (now) live, your code updates and tax calculations could easily go astray.
Many employees now ‘carry’ an extra deduction from employer to employer in the form of a student loan. With two basic loan types along with post-graduate loans following workers from job to job, a prudent employer will have updated their on-boarding or induction processes to capture relevant information. The loan type is not indicated on the current version of the P45, and a simple way to avoid confusion is for all new hires to complete the starter checklist, which can be downloaded from HMRC. Employees might want to consider using the HMRC app, which allows them to access their PAYE records and codes and send updates to HMRC, often resulting in better response times than those achieved with a traditional letter or phone call.
Another aspect is keeping contact details with The Pension Regulator (TPR) current. As smaller employers head towards their three year re-enrolment, reminder emails could easily be missed. With a £400 penalty for missing the deadline, a few minutes updating contact details and checking contacts is time well spent.
Mobility
Mobility and the B-word (Brexit) are a fascinating combination. Together, they have the potential to change mobility tracking and reporting forever. Employers with workers in other countries, in any part of Europe, should plan a strategic review of individuals and related compliance to ensure that processes and assumptions are fit for purpose in 2020. Simple steps such as a review of A1 documents, Foreign Tax Credit arrangements, and cross-border working patterns will go a long way to identifying employees who need additional support as they travel and/or relocate for business reasons. Compliance can be complex, but it is much easier if you get it right the first time.
2020 reminders
Other new year updates include:
Bereavement pay legislation exists for England Scotland and Wales. The lack of a local assembly could mean that NI workers may not immediately avail of this benefit which starts in April 2020 for the rest of the UK.
Termination payments over £30k will attract class 1A NIC from April. This will be reported via RTI and your software provider should include this function with their 2020 update.
With IR35 looming you might want to check out the redesigned CEST (Check Employment Status for Tax) tool on HMRC’s website. Whilst the limitations of CEST have been widely discussed and dissected; when used in the correct manner any decision should be upheld by HMRC.
Annual submissions reporting for Gender Pay Gap are due in March/April, just in case you had forgotten!
With a myriad of issues to cover, employers who outsource aspects of payroll and PAYE compliance can see tangible benefits and release internal resource to focus on core business activities.