David Ashcroft, of Lanyon Bowdler Solicitors, which has offices across Shropshire, Herefordshire and North Wales, works with a range of businesses providing corporate law advice and says a lot of people are reorganising their affairs in anticipation of changes being announced by the Chancellor in the budget.
David said: “Rightly or wrongly, a lot of business owners are anticipating that the Government will look to raise funds through tax rises one way or another, so they are acting now to protect their finances. “Several clients have approached me to help them draw down the tax-free allowance from their pension funds, and I have been assisting an elderly farming couple working in partnership with one or more of their children who wanted to transfer part of their interest in the business and land to the next generation.
“I have also been working on a number of sales and acquisitions, including a firm of estate agents selling out to a national chain and one of three partners in a Welsh farming partnership wanting to retire and take her money out. “A lot of clients are telling me the warnings from the Government about the ‘pain’ coming in the budget are really making them think carefully about their finances – and in some cases whether they want to carry on running a business at all.”