Services
Tax Planning
Personal and corporate tax planning for successful business owners and high-worth individuals — minimising liability across every tax head, compliantly and with purpose.
Philip Barnes & Co — Tamworth
Over 50 years of tax planning for people who have built something worth protecting
Tax planning is not about avoidance schemes. It is about structuring your affairs intelligently — so that income tax, inheritance tax, corporation tax and capital gains tax each work in your favour rather than against you.
Philip Barnes & Co has been advising business owners and high-worth individuals in Tamworth and across Staffordshire since the firm's founding. The partners hold ICAEW (FCA) and ACCA (FCCA) qualifications, and the firm's tax work spans sole traders, owner-managed companies, property investors, farming families and professional sportspeople.
Every engagement starts with a clear picture of your current position — what you owe, what reliefs you are entitled to, and where the structural opportunities lie. The firm then builds a plan that holds up at year-end and beyond.
Areas we cover
Four tax heads. One joined-up plan.
Most tax problems arise when each head is treated in isolation. Philip Barnes & Co looks across all four simultaneously.
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Income tax
Multiple income sources — salary, dividends, rental income, self-employment — each carry different rates and allowances. The firm structures the mix to keep your effective rate as low as the rules permit, making full use of personal allowances, pension contributions and reliefs.
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Inheritance tax
IHT planning works best when it starts early. The firm advises on gifting strategies, trust structures, business property relief and agricultural property relief — including succession planning for farming families where land and business assets overlap.
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Corporation tax
Tax-efficient company structures, timing of profit extraction, group relief and capital allowances all affect the corporation tax bill. The firm reviews these annually — not just at year-end — so that decisions made during the year are made with the tax consequence already understood.
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Capital gains tax
Disposal of business assets, investment property or shares triggers CGT. The firm plans disposals to maximise available reliefs — Business Asset Disposal Relief, holdover relief, principal private residence relief — and advises on timing where the tax year boundary matters.
Meet the specialist
John Clark — tax planning partner
John joined Philip Barnes & Co at 16, qualified in 1998, and was mentored directly by founder Philip Barnes for more than a decade. He became a full partner in 2004.
He specialises in tax planning for high-wealth individuals and owner-managed businesses. Clients describe him as a commercial sounding board as much as a technical adviser — someone who understands the business decision first and then finds the most tax-efficient way to execute it.
Clients including touring golf professional Rob Rock credit John's restructuring and tax planning advice with saving them significant sums. Over his career at Philip Barnes & Co, John has saved his clients £millions in tax — a figure grounded in named, verifiable client outcomes.
If you have a complex personal or corporate tax position, John is the right starting point.
R&D Tax Credits
Nine in ten eligible businesses are not claiming what they are owed
"90% of businesses eligible for R&D tax credits are not currently claiming them."
What the credit covers
HMRC's R&D tax credit scheme rewards companies that invest in innovation — new products, processes, software or materials. The relief can be claimed against corporation tax or, for loss-making companies, paid as a cash credit.
Philip Barnes & Co manages the full claim lifecycle: identifying whether your activity qualifies, estimating the rebate value before you commit time to the process, structuring and submitting the claim, and setting up the internal controls that make future claims straightforward.
Dean Ackrill — named R&D contact
Dean is a chartered accountant with 13 years advising SMEs before becoming Financial Director of a telecoms firm at 32. During his 11-year tenure he managed growth, restructure and multi-million-pound cost savings. In 2002, the telecoms firm where Dean served as Financial Director was recognised as one of Deloitte's Top 50 Fastest Growing Businesses.
Dean is the named contact for all R&D tax credit claims at Philip Barnes & Co. He brings a commercial operator's perspective to eligibility assessment — understanding what counts as genuine innovation in practice, not just in theory.
How we work
From first conversation to ongoing tax strategy
Free 30-minute consultation
Tell us about your current tax position — income sources, company structure, assets, any upcoming disposals. No obligation, no jargon.
Review your full picture
We look across all four tax heads simultaneously — income tax, IHT, corporation tax and CGT — to find where the structural opportunities lie and where you may be over-paying.
Deliver a written tax plan
You receive a clear, actionable plan: what to do, when to do it, and what each step saves. For R&D claims, we include an estimated rebate value before you commit further time.
Ongoing partnership
Tax planning is not a one-off exercise. We review your position annually — and whenever a significant business or personal event changes the picture — so the plan stays current.
Ready to pay less tax — legally and permanently?
Speak to John Clark or Dean Ackrill at Philip Barnes & Co in Tamworth. Call 01827 60033 or use the link below to arrange a free 30-minute consultation.