AAB’s VAT team grows fee income by 85% in 3 years

Anderson Anderson and Brown LLP (AAB) has announced that the revenues generated by the firm’s VAT team increased by 85% in the last three years.

The firm said the indirect tax team, which covers VAT, duty and environmental taxes led by director Alistair Duncan, now has a complement of five indirect tax specialists following the recruitment of a graduate trainee earlier this year, with further recruitment currently ongoing to meet the “increasing client demand in the central belt”.

In addition to providing VAT compliance and planning services, the team has seen an increase in specialist advisory services across other indirect taxes such as customs duty, excise duty and the various environmental indirect taxes which can impact businesses on a daily basis.

AAB added it has also “successfully assisted” several clients with indirect tax investigations and dispute resolution cases with HMRC.

To address a particular risk area for the Energy sector, a bespoke ‘VAT Place of Supply’ Tool was developed to assist businesses in determining the appropriate VAT treatment.

Duncan said: “The revenue growth we have achieved has been driven purely based on client demand as businesses recognise that this area of tax is becoming increasingly complex. Badged as the ‘simple tax’ when it was introduced, VAT, along with the other indirect taxes, are no longer a simple matter and clients require specialist support to suit their individual needs.

“This increasing demand has been met thanks to our dedicated, highly experienced team. Collectively, we have a broad range of specialist skills as a result of working in practice, HMRC and private industry. We are delighted to be adding to this with the recruitment of an experienced Indirect Tax Manager which is currently underway.”

With “significant changes” to indirect taxes due next year, Duncan said it also expects another year of “strong financial performance” from the Indirect Tax team.