VAT

Specialist VAT advice for businesses that need the answer to be right

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VAT looks straightforward until it is not. International supplies, partial exemption, property transactions, place-of-supply questions, sector-specific regimes and the increasingly intricate guidance on digital services routinely produce positions that are unclear, contested or expensive to get wrong. And the cost of a wrong position – in assessments, penalties and the management time of a dispute – is rarely proportionate to the original question.

When the technical answer matters, you need an adviser with the depth of expertise to give it.

Whatever VAT issue you’re facing, we have the experience and the knowledge to help. Talk to us today.

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What you can expect from our VAT team

Our VAT specialists combine strong technical knowledge with broad commercial experience and deliver written advice that can be relied on internally and referenced externally – to HMRC, to lenders and to acquirers.

Three characteristics define the work:

Specialist depth applied commercially

The technical answer is delivered in terms that connect to the decision you are trying to make — a transaction to complete, a structure to choose, a position to defend — rather than in isolation from it.

Written advice you can rely on

Opinions are documented, reasoned and referenced. The advice survives the conversation in which it was given and can be relied on internally and externally.

Written advice you can rely on

Opinions are documented, reasoned and referenced. The advice survives the conversation in which it was given and can be relied on internally and externally.

Businesses come to us on VAT when the question matters and they need an adviser who can guide them to the right answer – not a generic opinion that unravels under HMRC scrutiny.

They want an adviser whose technical authority on the issue is genuine, whose written advice can be relied on and whose representation of the position holds up where it is tested.

We provide specialist VAT advice to businesses across a wide range of sectors. Our expertise runs from one-off technical opinions and cross-border structuring through to partial exemption methodology, property and land transactions, group registrations and contentious VAT representation.

Our expertise

  • Corporate tax compliance and reporting
  • iXBRL tagging
  • Tax risk and strategy
  • Group structuring and reorganisations
  • Transaction tax (acquisitions, disposals, MBOs)
  • R&D tax credits
  • Capital allowances
  • Patent box
  • HMRC enquiries and disputes
  • International and cross-border tax

Our senior tax specialists combine strong technical knowledge with broad commercial experience and are driven by helping our clients’ businesses grow.

Our clients value our responsive, personable service and the accuracy of the advice we give.

They rely on us to resolve corporate tax issues quickly and efficiently, whatever the size of the company.

Here is what our clients have to say… testimonial icon


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Macalvins have been running the Payroll and Pension Plan for Hayes & Yeading United Football Club for over 10 years.… Read more

Bernard Bitmead

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I love the people of macalvins. they are warm and very dependable. and that what matters to me in any… Read more

SUJOY GHOSH

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I have been MaCalvins for the past 6 years and I have found them excellent in every department. They manage… Read more

John Gill

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I’ve been with MaCalvins since 2013, they are managing my company business accounts and my personal tax returns in a… Read more

Taghreed Altuhafi

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Excellent service and understanding of our business needs

Kanesh Rajani

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Thank you Macalvins for excellent service over the years

S Hodzic

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Why choose Macalvins?

With our team, you get precision, continuity and the kind of considered advice that comes from people who know your numbers as well as you do.

As a Top 100 UK accountancy firm with international reach through PrimeGlobal, Macalvins brings that depth of expertise to every client, at every stage of growth.

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Frequently Asked Questions faq

What kind of VAT engagements are most typical?

International supply chain reviews, property transactions (including options to tax, TOGCs and capital goods scheme positions), partial exemption methodology, group structures, sector-specific regimes (financial services, healthcare, education, charities) and contentious VAT representation are the most frequent categories.

We are expanding overseas — when should you be involved?

Before the operating model is committed to. Place of supply rules, local registration thresholds, fiscal representation requirements and import VAT mechanics vary materially between territories. A structure designed without that analysis is harder and more expensive to correct than one designed with it.

We have received an HMRC assessment — what is the process?

We review the assessment, the underlying audit work and the position taken. Most assessments are open to statutory review and, beyond that, to the First-tier Tribunal. We advise on the merits, the procedural route and the commercial cost of each option represent the position through the route chosen.

Mr. Jackson
@mrjackson