As Cambridge businesses, investors and individuals increasingly look beyond the UK, cross-border tax considerations often arise earlier than expected. Businesses that once focused solely on local markets now routinely engage with overseas suppliers, investors, directors or employees. Individuals arrive in the UK for work or research, or plan moves abroad. These moments of change can trigger complex questions around UK tax residence, corporate structures, employment tax and VAT compliance.
It is at these moments of change, that we help clients navigate the next stage smoothly, without unnecessary difficulty. At PEM, we have more than 70 Cambridge-based tax specialists, working closely together and quickly to provide clear practical advice. We address these complex issues with clients early to support their international growth and business plans while ensure they manage risk and avoid unintended tax consequences.
Supporting international growth and overseas structuring decisions
Jan Fachot and our Business Tax team help many clients taking steps into new markets or responding to overseas investor expectations. This might start with companies managing simple overseas activity which may create a taxable presence and obligations in another jurisdiction.
Other companies decide to set up an entity or in some cases insert holding company outside the UK as their natural next move, whether to meet investor requirements, operate more efficiently in new key markets, or prepare for long-term international growth.
In some cases, clients explore creating a new holding company outside the UK to bring structure, ownership and fundraising plans together in a way that suits their next phase.
Adapting employment tax processes to an international workforce
Kate Millard and our Employment Tax team support clients as both as working patterns change and clients expand overseas. Hybrid arrangements, remote staff in different countries, short-term overseas assignments and visits to the UK have become common, and so many clients want to make sure their processes flex with the challenges of a modern workplace whilst remaining simple to administer, tax efficient and compliant.
For example, since the pandemic, the trend for employees to work remotely internationally continues and this, coupled with skills shortages, means that employers must navigate the various challenges around this, not least potential increased tax reporting and payroll compliance often overseas and in the UK. PEM’s Employment Tax team currently works with our clients to simplify the tax position for both employers and employees, making use of HMRC simplifications available, and as a member of Kreston Global we have access to experts around the world.
Planning for international moves, residence and cross border wealth
Stephen Bartlett-Rawlings and the Private Clients team work closely with individuals and families who are relocating to the UK or planning to leave it. With the UK moving to a residence-based system from April 2025, and with a new four-year Foreign Income and Gains regime for qualifying new arrivals, many clients are thinking ahead to understand how the rules apply to their wider financial and personal situation. Early conversations help avoid surprises, especially for people with interests in multiple countries.
Proactive planning has become more important than ever. Our cross-border expertise ensures clients can navigate these changes with confidence and clarity.
Recent areas of advice include optimising the timing and consequences of becoming, or ceasing to be, UK tax resident, and helping clients understand how the UK treats offshore assets and structures, including Foundations, Trusts, LLCs and companies. We also support clients in assessing the availability of reliefs under UK domestic legislation and double tax treaties, as well as in establishing or reorganising offshore structures to safeguard family wealth for future generations. Alongside this, we advise on designing efficient wealth transfer strategies aligned with long-term family goals.
Managing VAT and indirect tax risks in cross border trade
For VAT and indirect tax, Robert Plumbly and his team help clients who trade internationally, selling digital services, supplying overseas customers and importing goods into other countries all expose businesses to VAT rules in other tax jurisdictions. Even an isolated transaction can create unwelcome compliance considerations outside the UK and additional reporting obligations in the UK.
Much of our VAT team’s work involves advising on cross border transactions with e-commerce supply chains, services received from abroad and global sales via online marketplaces commonly featuring. Post-Brexit, the team has been particularly busy helping clients understand the VAT implications of exporting and importing goods and services to and from EU countries under the new regime. Such work often involves working closely with our EU based Kreston colleagues.
Responding to market shifts shaping international growth and compliance
Across all these areas, a few wider market shifts are influencing how clients work. HMRC’s introduction to Making Tax Digital for certain individuals from April 2026, requires more consistent record-keeping rather than last-minute annual exercises. Companies planning for growth are also looking at how recent investment friendly measures, including permanent full expensing for certain capital expenditure, may help them develop new facilities or upgrade existing ones. Meanwhile, innovative businesses continue to work within the unified R&D regime, where despite recent changes making overseas R&D activities more challenging, it remains an important part of how the UK supports research driven sectors.
What ties all this together is that clients face more international movement of people, work, capital and activities than in the past. We help them manage that movement with clear, practical advice that fits their objectives and situation. We combine our local knowledge built over many decades in Cambridge with access to international expertise when their plans extend beyond the UK.
Local depth, international reach through Kreston Global
PEM, with 20 Partners and over 260 staff, is Cambridge’s largest firm of accountants, tax and business advisers, supporting many clients from early-stage tech and life sciences companies to established businesses, international investors and individuals moving into or out of the UK.
PEM is part of Kreston Global, the 13th largest international accounting network, comprising 27,500+ people in more than 150 independent firms in over 100 countries. This gives us direct access to practical, local specialist advice wherever our clients operate internationally.
Ready to talk through your next cross border step?
If your business, investments, workforce or personal plans are extending beyond the UK, an early conversation can make all the difference. PEM’s Cambridge based tax specialists bring together local insight and international expertise to help you move forward with clarity and confidence. Get in touch to discuss how we can support your next phase.
