James joined the Sports & Entertainment Group at Saffery in 2018 following a decade working at RSM in their Private Client Tax Team where he qualified as a Chartered Tax Advisor.
His current clients include internationally renowned individual sports people such as Grand Slam tennis champions, F1 Drivers, Le Mans winners and Grand Tour stage winners as well as actors, models, musicians and influencers. He also looks after the individuals’ respective personal service companies and often deals day-to-day with their agents and other professional advisors.
James also acts for a number of entrepreneurs and owner-managed businesses. He regularly helps start-ups navigate their way through their tax and accounting obligations in the early years of trade and provides tax-efficient solutions whilst also minimising the risk of HMRC enquiries.
Key experience
- James has extensive knowledge of the UK’s statutory residence rules along with the double tax agreements in place with various other jurisdictions around the world. He has helped clients emigrate into and out of the UK and deals with a number of international mobile taxpayers including athletes, entrepreneurs and HNWIs,
- He also regularly advises non-domiciled individuals on the correct application and benefits of the remittance basis of tax, including overseas workday relief and
pre-arrival planning, - James has been involved within the structuring of various businesses including sports agencies, influencer marketing businesses and property investment companies, both domestic and internationally,
- He has contributed to numerous articles about the tax implications for non-resident sportspeople performing in the UK along with various other internal and external publications.
Interests
James is passionate about a mix of sports including Tennis, Motorsport and Cycling but spends his spare time playing squash and taking part in triathlons when he’s not out walking his Golden Retriever in East London. He enjoys eating out at all of the wonderful restaurants London has to offer and likes to travel on a shoe string budget. He’s also an avid music fan and is always looking forward to the next gig or festival.
