Burges Salmon sets up low-tax vehicle for staff

The new company, Burges Salmon Limited, will be wholly owned by Burges Salmon partners and fully indemnified by the LLP.
The Bristol firm launched a consultation process with staff earlier this year, ahead of the transfer of operations from the beginning of the tax year on 1 May.

Finance partner Paul Browne spearheaded the initiative working alongside managing partner Peter Morris.

Around a third of the UK’s top 100 law firms are understood to have adopted similar structures, including four of the five firms that Burges Salmon uses as ­comparators. These include Eversheds, Osborne Clarke and Wragge & Co.

Browne said the tax ­savings would add up to “thousands, not millions”, adding that there would be no job losses or changes to employee conditions as a result of the change.

He continued: “Some ­people have asked if this is the first step to outsourcing, which it isn’t. If we wanted to outsource we would ­outsource, but it’s not the Burges Salmon way.”

As part of a transfer pricing mechanism the service company is able to charge a 3-4 per cent premium on the costs of the employees, which is tax-deductable.