Tax Group Networks (18 May 2023) – Every day is a school day

“Every day is a school day”……this is how one person summed up the Tax Group Networks (West Midlands) event last week on Thursday 18 May 2023. This was organised and delivered by Housman Consulting – Tax Investigation & Accountants and Asian Business Chambers of Commerce. We had a good turnout, 42 confirmed acceptances and 34 attendees on the day.

Housman Consulting and Birmingham Chamber of Commerce / Asian birmingham chamber of Commerce

I was so pleased because, for me, the feedback sums up the very purpose of our networking group. Yes, it is about making business connections BUT it is more than just that – we wanted to create a forum to encourage education and learning in matters involving tax for practitioners of all disciplines (tax experts, accountants, lawyers, insolvency practitioners, finance, mortgage brokers, wealth managers, HR and business owners etc).

This would be a safe environment for people to ask questions, to challenge each other, to share best practice and to grow confidence levels in dealing with regulatory bodies such as HM Revenue & Customs in our day to day professional work. It is not about competition. It is about personal development. It is about support for each other as colleagues and friends. We have had members telling their personal story through a ‘my journey’ segment on the agenda – some truly inspirational contributions and an opportunity for people to do things like public speaking, present in front of an audience and lead discussions.

A big thank you to our keynote speakers. It is not only giving up their time but the value of sharing their insights and experience on current hot topics at HMRC.

Jesminara Rahman spoke about the changing landscape of R&D claims, hurdles to jump through on proving claims and the legal dance around current case law including Hadlee Engineering and Quinn.

Salman Anwar and Sartaj Gill led interactive group sessions (He said, She said, We said) on the triggers for HMRC investigation and the intelligence held on HMRC systems such as ‘Connect’. This was to view the whole picture from a 360 degree angle so that attendees could understand the perspective from the client (taxpayer), accountant, tax specialist and HMRC.

Omar Rashid MCIPD outlined his personal journey in business setting up his own HR company, the support and encouragement he had from colleagues across the business sector leading to his current appointment as President of the Asian Business Chambers of Commerce.

The next meeting is being planned provisionally for 14 September 2023. This is subject only to securing accommodation but be warned, I am after speakers!

Although this started off as the West Midlands Tax Group, the reality is that people from all over the UK are welcome. We have members who travelled from London, Leicester, Burnley, Northampton and Leeds to join us here for the event.

We are always on the lookout for keynote speakers and presentations on tax related and business topics, so please reach out to us.

Finally to finish off, a nice iconic picture of Birmingham, best city in the world!

Testimonials

What Our Clients Say

Fraud Investigation Service – Tax Investigation “We spent many sleepless nights worrying about letters from HMRC demanding this and that, we felt under the cosh, Housman were able to quickly access the situation and gave us, common sense advice and handled all communications with HMRC and eventually negotiated a fair settlement.”

D.S – Manchester

Security Company with VAT Assurance and Due Diligence issues “HMRC were asking loads of questions and demanding documents, Housman stepped in and managed the process. It took a load of my mind and sorted the VAT issue”

H.S - Birmingham

Landlord – Voluntary Disclosure under the Let Property Campaign “I foolishly let things slide and did not report my property income for serval years, I then approached Housman who handled all aspects of my Voluntary Disclosure. In the end it actually saved me tax because they claimed allowable expenses against the rental income.”

M.S.G - London

Accounts Preparation and Filing “Searching for an accountant for a small start-up felt like a chore, Housman offered me honest and useful advice from the start and is worth contacting them for advice on your problems”

D.T – Birmingham