Print    Close   Tax Automation is a leading specialist in tax risk management tools and systems consulting. Our software and services enable tax professionals in any industry to simplify and improve the accuracy of their tax compliance and planning activities. CASE STUDY  Client Profile Luminar is the largest operator of licensed late-night venues in the United Kingdom, running well known brands such as Chicago Rock Café and Jumpin Jaks. The Company is listed on the London Stock Exchange and has a market capitalisation of £383 million.  The challenge Managing Luminar's capital expenditure budget for tax purposes was becoming an ever increasing burden on the in-house tax department. Annual expenditure of nearly £50 million required detailed analysis to ensure capital allowance and capital gains reliefs were being maximised. As part of a general review, the Head of Tax identified a need for more efficient processes and the adoption of technological solutions to ensure that staff time was spent more effectively on planning and advisory work rather than analysis. Furthermore, the current legislative and compliance requirements highlighted a need for a comprehensive audit trail between ledger data and tax figures submitted to the Inland Revenue. Finally, a third requirement was to avoid using percentage based sampling methods for agreeing capital allowance claims and to calculate the figures on an exact basis. The company already had a fixed asset accounting system and corporate tax computation software, but needed the ability to bridge the gap between the two efficiently and effectively to create automated analysis and report schedules directly from the ledger data. This would free up tax department staff time to concentrate on project work and advising the business on tax efficient structures, whilst also providing the necessary audit trail.  The solution Luminar approached Tax Automation to provide the Capital Assets Database™. Andy Marks, Head of Tax at Luminar, explains how a tight deadline added to the pressure: "Having engaged Tax Automation, we had an aggressive implementation timetable, requiring specialist functionality and a complete integration within a few months, to ensure we could start our new financial year using improved processes.". To enable Luminar to achieve these goals, Tax Automation employed cutting edge project management and development methodologies, along with ensuring the involvement of the project teams throughout the process. Trevor Ling, Group Tax Manager at Luminar highlights the involvement of Tax Automation: "Regular project meetings provided an excellent way of seeing the process evolving and being tailored to our needs. Tax Automation kept us fully informed throughout the project and where happy to visit us at short notice if any issues arose. Their approach to customer care has been exemplary". Having tested the software solution on 2003/04 data, the system went live in time to start managing the 2004/05 capital expenditure and immediately reduced the time and effort required to analyse this expenditure for capital allowance purposes.  The benefits The Capital Assets Database™ has provided a robust and auditable process for managing capital expenditure that has met Luminar's requirements and will allow further improvements going forward. Other tangible benefits include having moved from a percentage based sampling method to an exact method, the company has increased the value of identified capital allowance qualifying expenditure claims by 12%. The software is now in use throughout the Luminar business. "Tax Automation have become an invaluable partner to Luminar in satisfying the aims of our Capital Assets tax strategy. The solution they have provided for the maintenance and processing of data relating to Capital Assets is highly efficient and cost-effective. A key test of a good supplier is that they deliver on their promises, and Tax Automation has certainly done that. I would have no hesitation in giving them and the Capital Assets software the highest recommendation." Andy Marks, Head of Tax, Luminar plc Challenge: Provide the Head of Tax with a fully automated process for reconciliation between ledger and tax figures. Solution: Using Tax Automation's Capital Assets Database (CAD) to record and track capital expenditure. Benefits: Better identification of qualifying expenditure for capital allowances and capital gains tax purposes, along with introducing a consistent process and freeing up of resources for planning and risk management work.