Field opening up for boutique practices offering personalised services

HONG KONG CAN expect to see the number of boutique tax practices increase over the next few years as clients look for advisers who can deliver personalised professional tax solutions.

Deborah Annells, founder and director of AzureTax Group, said one reason this was likely to happen was that large companies offering both tax advisory and auditing services would take steps to separate the two operations to avoid a potential conflict of interest.

She said this would create opportunities for boutique tax practices that offered high-quality client-focused services.

AzureTax offers a range of tax services. It helps small and medium-sized companies to set up business on the mainland and address legal and regulatory requirements, assists private equity funds in making acquisitions and with associated issues such as transfer pricing, and helps companies and individuals unravel complex tax issues.

'Our solutions are viable and tax efficient simply because we listen and we understand that a robust tax strategy, correctly implemented, is the foundation of any successful financial plan,' said Ms Annells, who is Hong Kong's only overseas member of the Executive Council of the UK Chartered Institute of Taxation.

She said the company was staffed by highly qualified professionals who delivered a range of specialised, in-depth tax advisory services.