Meet the team – Claudia Harrison

Name

Claudia Harrison

Job Title

Graduate Tax Trainee

How long have you been at Cowgills?

I started here in September 2018 – so around 18 months! It seems like 5 minutes ago but I also feel like I’ve been here a lifetime.

Ok, so what exactly do you do?

Since starting at Cowgills I have been exposed to various areas of tax, but one area that I have particularly got involved with is Capital Allowances.

I assist James with various property and construction clients on development and investment projects, ensuring that all expenditure incurred is analysed thoroughly and the maximum capital allowances are claimed.

I also work with our clients to make sure that everything runs smoothly in the most efficient way possible.

Give us some highlights

Getting out of the office and seeing a project or development with my own eyes and gaining a full understanding is definitely a highlight and something that I enjoy the most about my job. To see a project through from start to finish, being able to maximise various tax reliefs and seeing the benefit that this can achieve is rewarding, but I have also learnt a lot whilst working with James.

Capital allowances and contaminated land tax relief has given clients substantial cash flow benefits and overall savings which they may have been initially unaware they could even claim.

What challenges do you find clients are experiencing at the moment and how are you helping them to overcome them?

An issue that we recently came across involved a client where the main contractor went in to administration mid-project. This caused significant issues in terms of capturing necessary information for the capital allowance claim, meaning that we had to source information from different subcontractors.

Any tips?

Taking advice at the earliest stage possible means that the most appropriate and beneficial tax structure can be implemented before any agreements or contracts have been agreed.