Services - Personal Tax, Trust Administration and Financial Management

We offer a comprehensive personal taxation service, including the preparation of tax returns and trading accounts for the self-employed. Our goal is to optimise your tax position, advising on how to minimise your liabilities and avoid tax pitfalls. We will ensure that your affairs are dealt with in an effective manner and help you to meet all deadlines.

We provide accounting, administration and tax compliance services for a wide range of trusts. For trustees wishing to take advantage of these services, we have developed a Trust Administration Package which delivers a comprehensive service in a cost efficient manner. We also have particular expertise in administering charitable trusts.

Our financial management service is available to relieve our clients of increasingly complex and time consuming administrative chores. Making time critical financial decisions, co-ordinating different advisers and managing paperwork can be overwhelming for many people. If your spirits sink as paperwork piles up, we can help.

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John Scott Moncrieff Partner

john.scottmoncrieff@murraybeith.co.uk

John has been with the firm for four decades and is the Client Relations Partner. He specialises in asset protection and general financial planning for a wide portfolio of clients throughout the UK and further afield.

Widely experienced, he heads a dedicated team and is responsible for the firm’s Tax Group.

Well-versed in trusts (family and charitable), John serves on numerous boards and holds a wide range of trusteeships. John is particularly active and well known in the Arts. He was recently appointed Bailie of Holyroodhouse and has long served as Consul of Monaco in Scotland.

A family man, his main interests outside the law are football, the theatre and enjoying the Highlands of Scotland.

Areas of work

• Wills
• Trust law
• Powers of Attorney
• Estate planning
• Personal tax
• Financial management

Sean Cockburn Senior Tax Manager

sean.cockburn@murraybeith.co.uk

Sean holds Associate status and heads up the Tax Group within the firm. Sean qualified as a Chartered Tax Adviser in 2008 and has recently become a member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP), having been awarded the STEP Diploma for Scotland at Distinction level.

Responsible primarily for the firm’s tax compliance functions, Sean also advises individuals and trustees on tax and estate planning matters, changing regulations and how best to structure their affairs.

Sean specialises in personal and trust taxation with substantial experience in income, capital and inheritance tax issues, and their interaction through trusts and other estate planning vehicles. His comprehensive knowledge of trust taxation is key to assisting the firm in providing its proactive Trust Administration Service.

Outside of work, Sean is a keen footballer and enjoys playing tennis. He is also an active member of the Chartered Institute of Taxation Scotland Branch Committee, having been the lead organiser of the 2010 Annual Conference.

Areas of work

• Personal taxation
• Tax planning
• Tax compliance
• Trust taxation
• Interaction of taxes
• HMRC compliance checks

Christine Burns Tax Manager

christine.burns@murraybeith.co.uk

Christine joined the firm in 2010 after working for several international accountancy firms, over a number of years, advising on tax planning for high net worth individuals and expatriates. Christine is a Chartered Tax adviser.

Christine specialises in personal and trust taxation including income, capital and estate planning and the interaction of these taxes both for lifetime and Will planning.

In the age of mobile employees her knowledge of expatriate tax is an added value service which the firm provides to their clients.

Areas of work

• Personal taxation
• Trust taxation
• Tax planning
• Expatriate tax
• Interaction of taxes
• Tax compliance