Financial planning support for international tax lawyers
International tax advice frequently determines what a client can do, when they should do it and which jurisdictions need to be considered.
The client may still need help turning that advice into decisions around pensions, investments, retirement planning, liquidity, cash flow and long-term wealth management.
Josh Clancey works alongside international tax lawyers where the financial-planning consequences of specialist tax advice need to be modelled, implemented or coordinated with the client's wider objectives.
Keeping tax analysis and financial planning distinct
The international tax lawyer remains responsible for specialist tax analysis, treaty interpretation and advice within their professional remit.
Josh's role is financial planning.
That may include reviewing pensions, investment portfolios, retirement accounts, cash-flow requirements, business-sale proceeds, protection or beneficiary arrangements once the relevant tax position has been established.
This distinction is particularly important in cross-border cases, where the same transaction can create different income tax, estate tax, pension and investment consequences across jurisdictions.
The objective is not to reproduce specialist tax work. It is to ensure that the client's financial decisions reflect it.
Client situations where international tax and financial planning intersect
A client is changing residence
Residence can determine the framework within which pensions, investments, income and future transactions are considered.
For UK purposes, the Statutory Residence Test applies separately to each tax year and considers automatic overseas tests, automatic UK tests and the sufficient ties test.
Once the residence position has been established, the client may still need to decide how their investments, pensions and cash flow should be managed.
A client has assets in several jurisdictions
International portfolios can create questions around ownership, tax treatment, investment access, currency and eventual retirement spending.
Specialist tax advice may establish the consequences of holding or disposing of an asset. Financial planning can then address whether it remains appropriate within the wider portfolio.
A non-US client holds significant US assets
US estate-tax exposure can arise for non-US persons holding certain US-situated assets.
The IRS states that a nonresident who is not a US citizen may have a Form 706-NA filing requirement where relevant US-situated assets exceed the applicable filing threshold, subject to the detailed rules and treaty position.
The tax lawyer may establish the estate-tax exposure while Josh reviews the client's investment structure, diversification and wider estate-liquidity position.
A client has a US connection
Citizenship, Green Card history, US retirement accounts, non-US investments or US beneficiaries can materially affect financial planning.
The tax analysis may need to precede any portfolio or retirement-account changes.
A business owner is preparing for a sale
Cross-border tax structuring and transaction advice may sit alongside a separate question: what should the shareholder do personally before and after receiving liquidity?
A client is approaching retirement across borders
Pension taxation, residence and treaty analysis may establish the framework, but the client may still need to decide how much to draw, from which assets and in what sequence.
Questions that may indicate a wider financial-planning need
Where is the client resident now and where are they likely to live next?
Future residence can materially affect which pensions, investments and financial structures remain practical.
Does the client hold assets that create exposure in another jurisdiction?
The tax analysis may identify an exposure that then requires an investment or estate-planning response.
Are pensions or retirement accounts involved?
Pension access, beneficiaries, investment strategy and retirement income may need to be reviewed once the tax position is known.
Is there a major transaction approaching?
A business sale, inheritance, relocation or substantial asset disposal can change the client's personal financial position quickly.
Does the client have US citizenship, Green Card history or US-situs assets?
These factors can introduce additional investment, estate and retirement-planning issues.
Are family members or beneficiaries in different countries?
Ownership, succession, pension nominations and liquidity may need to be coordinated with legal and tax advice.
Does the client need to implement the tax strategy?
Once the specialist advice has established what is permissible or preferable, the client may still need practical investment, pension or retirement planning.
Professional resources for international tax lawyers
The Document Centre includes technical briefs, professional guides and practical checklists covering residence, the FIG regime, inheritance tax, US estate tax, international pensions, US-connected clients, business exits, cross-border estate planning and internationally held investments.
These resources are designed to help identify where a tax issue may create a separate financial-planning requirement.
Useful resources for international tax lawyers
The Professional Adviser's Guide to Cross-Border Financial Planning
A broad framework for recognising where tax, pensions, investments, residence and retirement planning intersect.
The UK Statutory Residence Test for Internationally Mobile Clients
A focused technical brief covering the residence framework relevant to internationally mobile clients.
US Estate Tax Exposure for Non-US Persons With US-Situs Assets
A practitioner-focused resource on the US estate-tax considerations that can arise where non-US clients hold US assets.
The Professional Adviser's Guide to US-Situs Assets and Estate Tax Exposure
A wider professional guide connecting US estate-tax exposure with investment and estate-planning considerations.
Cross-Border Beneficiary and Estate Coordination
A technical brief covering the financial-planning issues that may sit alongside legal and tax work where assets and beneficiaries span jurisdictions.
Cross-Border Referral Checklist
A practical checklist for identifying when a tax-led client engagement may also require financial-planning input.
Working from specialist tax advice already in place
International tax cases are particularly vulnerable to duplicated work if responsibilities are not clear.
Where the client's lawyer has already established the relevant tax position, Josh can use that advice as an input rather than attempting to recreate it.
Examples include:
- the lawyer establishes residence and treaty treatment, while Josh reviews the pension and investment consequences
- the lawyer identifies estate-tax exposure, while Josh reviews the investment structure and liquidity available to the family
- the lawyer advises on expatriation or Green Card relinquishment, while Josh considers the client's post-US portfolio and retirement arrangements
- the lawyer establishes the tax treatment of business-sale proceeds, while Josh develops the client's personal investment and retirement strategy
- the lawyer analyses the treatment of pension withdrawals, while Josh models the retirement-income implications
The aim is for the financial plan to follow the technical advice rather than develop independently of it.
Estate-tax and domicile issues require specialist analysis
Cross-border estate planning is a good example of where terminology can differ between tax systems.
For US federal estate-tax purposes, the IRS notes that residence for estate and gift tax purposes is effectively based on domicile rather than simply income-tax residence. A Green Card alone is not conclusive of US domicile.
That distinction belongs within specialist tax and legal advice.
Once the relevant exposure has been established, Josh can help address the financial-planning consequences, such as investment concentration, asset ownership, liquidity, retirement accounts and beneficiary coordination.
Financial planning after the technical answer
In many international cases, the tax advice answers one question but creates several financial ones.
For example, the client may know that an asset can be sold, transferred or retained, but still need to decide:
- whether doing so supports their long-term objectives
- how much liquidity should be retained
- how replacement investments should be structured
- how pensions and retirement accounts fit alongside other assets
- how future spending should be funded
- how currency exposure should be managed
- how beneficiaries and estate liquidity should be coordinated
This is where financial planning can add value without extending into the tax lawyer's remit.
Where Josh's role ends
Josh does not replace the client's international tax lawyer.
He does not provide specialist treaty interpretation, determine tax domicile, calculate estate-tax liabilities or provide legal advice outside his professional remit.
Where a financial recommendation depends on a tax or legal conclusion, that position should be established by the appropriate adviser.
Josh can then incorporate that conclusion into the client's investment, pension, retirement and wider financial plan.
Technical briefings for international tax teams
Josh can provide focused briefings for tax and legal teams dealing with internationally mobile clients.
Topics can include UK residence and the FIG regime, US-connected clients, US-situs assets, cross-border pensions, international retirement, business exits and estate coordination.
Have a client case you would like to discuss?
If your tax or legal work has highlighted an investment, pension, retirement or wider financial-planning issue, an initial discussion can help establish whether Josh is likely to add value.
There is no requirement to make a formal introduction simply to determine whether the case falls within his remit.