Corporate / Tax

Tom is a partner in and head of the tax department at Shoosmiths. He heads up the firm’s enterprise investment scheme (EIS) and venture capital trusts (VCT) tax practice. Tom is one of the UK’s leading experts in this field and has extensive experience advising a wide range of investors and investee companies on structuring and implementing tax efficient investments, reorganisations and exits in compliance with the EIS and VCT regimes. Tom acts on over 150 VCT and EIS investments a year for the likes of Octopus Investments, Downing LLP, Gresham House Asset Management, Hambro Perks Ltd, Triple Point Investment Management LLP, MMC Ventures, Beringea LLP, Calculus Capital Limited, Seneca Investment Partners and Maven Capital Partners LLP.

Shoosmiths has been a finalist in the ‘Best EIS/SEIS Tax Adviser of the year’ category at the EISA Awards every year since 2017 and won ‘highly commended’ in 2022 and 2023 for its expertise in this area and its work in promoting the industry through speaking at key investor events, thought leadership and active involvement in technical aspects of EIS/SEIS advice.

In addition, Tom has substantial experience of providing tax advice to companies and individuals on both one-off business transactions and on-going compliance. Tom regularly implements share option schemes including EMI options and other company share option plans, as well as negotiating with HMRC on both contentious and non-contentious matters. Tom is also a qualified Chartered Tax Adviser, a member of the EIS Association’s Tax and Technical Committee, a member of the AIC’s VCT Technical Committee, and part of the VCTA Advisers working group working with HMRC Policy.

Having graduated from Downing College, Cambridge University with an MA in Law, Tom trained at Linklaters and qualified into their tax department in 2006. Tom joined Shoosmiths in 2007 and qualified as a Chartered Tax Adviser in 2009, before becoming a partner in 2015.

Chartered Institute of Taxation.

Downing College, Cambridge; Nottingham Law School.