AMSTERDAM

The last stop on my secondment - Amsterdam. Coming here, I was excited to learn  about the tax strategies Netherlands is famous for. I'm sure there are a lot of other 20 somethings out there that travel to Amsterdam looking for the same thing..

Amsterdam is the first location on my secondment where English is not the native language. With only a few months to learn the complicated Dutch language, I was pretty hopeless. Thankfully, the office is accepting of my incompetency and everyone speaks very good English here. Things I take for granted, operating a copy machine, using the phone and even reading daily emails is complicated by language. Grocery shopping takes twice as long and if the meal requires instructions I lean on google to translate -

Everyone in the office has been very welcoming, I have already been party in a number of projects throughout the international tax team and thankfully everyone is eager to get me involved. The structuring and tax advisory work here is interesting and the advisers are top notch. The tax attorneys at Mazars Amsterdam have impressive backgrounds, many of them leading large U.S. multinationals as they enter Europe with tax efficiency. I am grateful to have the opportunity to learn alongside them.

The streets and sidewalks of Amsterdam are unlike any I've ever seen. First you have the canals, which dictate everything in this city, where the people can live, where you can drive. The transportation on these passages is crowded. You have a walking lane, a biking lane, a car lane, and tram lanes all within the area of an average two lane street in the states. Bikes are the main mode of transport here - by far. Rain or shine they're out riding, hear a ring and you're getting passed on the left. In a way that's indescribably European, I love that there are so many bikes here.

The canals, which shape this city along with the people that live here, give it a certain uniqueness. I have heard people say before that Amsterdam is the Venice of the North. I have never been to Venice but I can only hope it has as much beauty and charm. The city was founded and still is to this day as a trading center. On the banks of the river Amstel, it is strategically situated on the most traveled waterway of Western Europe. It's name, even originates from dams (dykes) that were built along the river Amstel to protect the city against frequent flooding. Amsteldam, later Amsterdam was born. Now you know where Amstel beer is from if you didn't already.

 

The bridges and many churches all provide for great photos, surprisingly, most all of the churches here are not in service. Amsterdam, like much of Europe is primarily non-religious. When I asked my landlord about churches, he said there are only a few left open. Hard to believe for a city of over 750,000. I can understand the jaded perspective considering the continents contentious past but it is still hard to see these great structures empty. 

For the romantics - symbolize your commitment with a lock and throw away the key..

This picture was taken using a watercolor setting on my camera - no photoshop I promise!



Emerald Isle

2 weeks after arriving in London I jumped on a plane to Dublin. I'm lucky to know a family there because one of my best friends in Charleston calls Dublin home. Over the years I've gotten to know his family during their long summer holidays in Charleston. My visit was nowhere near long enough but I felt like I got to experience life in Ireland in my short time there and I will always be grateful for the White family who welcomed me into their home. 

When I arrived, we went strait to a 6th century monastery called Glendalough, the Gaelic name translates to “valley of the two lakes". . It was like stepping back in time, the site was the epitome of what I imagined Irish Gothic would look like. Seeing the construction, it was hard to believe much of it was 1500 years old.

Some goats nibbling in the mist

A valley in the Wicklow Mountains

A rainy day in the hills!

The Whites took me for a lovely meal my first night and then we went out on the town. The strangest encounter of the night was a double decker bus converted into a food truck with seating on the upper deck. Someone with a double decker in Charleston, I hope you are reading this - make it happen!  It was nice to catch up with Ciaran White and I got to meet his girlfriend Erna, from Iceland.
 


Big Blue!



Old Friends and New

The next day we went over to see the Arthur Guinness brewery to see where the black stuff has been made since 1759.

No way I was moving that door

It is never a good idea to take a picture of a picture, but it was the only way to capture an old photo I found at the Guinness brewery. It's hard to imagine, all those barrels were carved by hand at the Arthur Guinness factory.


Pyramid of Guinness

My last, and favorite stop of the trip was to a small pub up in the Wicklow Mountains right outside of Dublin called "The Blue Light Bar". There was live music that consisted of a couple guys with only a guitar and a banjo playing some classic tunes. It was perfect. The bar overlooks the city of Dublin right down to the Irish Sea, definitely a great setting to commemorate my trip to Ireland. Even an Irish Rainbow -


I ate the Skittles on the flight back

The Move to London



 I did a little urban exploring in Milton Keynes my last day. There is a large shopping center that is supposed to be one of the largest in all of Europe so I had to check it out. Known as the Xscape it is massive.

Inside there is even an indoor ski slope - it was weird watching people in the mall carrying ski's

 

Before I left Milton Keynes I received the 101 on UK individual tax returns - Stop here and move to the pictures below if you are not into number crunching!

The SA-100
The first noticeable difference in tax systems is one of self assessment, unless you have significant income outside your wages and investments, you're usually not required to file a UK tax return. The SA-100 SA standing for "self assessment" return is only filed by a minority of the population.

Some observations:
- Married Individuals do not have an option to file "joint" returns
- 4 brackets in UK - 0%, 20%, 40%, 45% The 40% bracket starts as early as $72,000 USD equivalent
- Employees receive a P60 at the end of year, equivalent of our W-2 stating wages and withholding
- Tax is withheld at source on all investment income, so interest and dividends are paid NET of tax
- Capital gains are taxed at 0%, 10%, 18% or 28% based on where you fall in the rate bands(brackets)
- National Insurance Contributions (NIC) are due on income/wages, similar to our payroll tax
- There is no "itemized deductions" allowed in the UK, and there are very limited number of credits, one such credit is the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme whereby the investor receives a 50% CREDIT for contributions into small businesses. There are provisions on size and time duration
- Retirement and charitable contributions are not deductible on the SA-100, they shift income from high brackets to lower brackets proportional to contributions. On the back end, the amount is grossed up by HMRC (Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs - IRS equivalent) and paid to the institution on the back end (paid to the charity or financial institution holding the retirement fund).

As an example, if you contributed $48(after tax $) to your retirement fund, and you were in the 20% bracket, the HMRC would contribute $12 into your retirement account.

My move to London was short, only about an hour away but for most in the MK Mazars office it was the last time I would see them. I left the team with goodies in typical English courtesy, and said all my goodbyes. I will always remember the hospitality I received from everyone in Milton Keynes - thank you.

Coming into London, I knew my location must be pretty good because it only took 45 minutes to get to the city but almost an hour to get to my apartment. Here is a view from my window! I'm about 15 walk from the office and tower bridge. I live right on top a fish and chip shop - yes, how stereotypical. There are grocery stores, markets, shops and restaurants all around me - city living!
Here are a few pictures from my first day walking London!

The River Thames from Tower Bridge!

Castle of London - Right across the street from the Mazars office



Me on Tower Bridge



the Gherkin



Me and the Gherkin

Milton Keynes

Hard to believe this is my last week in Milton Keynes. Besides all the experiences and friendships gained whilst living here, there still remains a number of things to see and do right in my backyard. This week I set my aim at seeing and doing as much as possible before moving to London.

Friday, Mazars held a "Tax Away Day" where all tax professionals around the UK assembled to discuss emerging trends, strategy and results of the region. I thought it was a nice forum, an idea I will bring back to DHG.

After tax away day I was able to take in my first rugby game - the Northampton Saints are top in the premier league. Rugby players over here are known as the biggest and baddest in sports. As apposed to American football with all the pads and dancing. These guys were beasts, no doubt about it, the sport gained some respect in my eyes. We had some nice seats 2 rows off the pitch(field). You could hear the collision of bodies.

The Scrum

Following my night out, I did some exploring around Milton Keynes. I set out to see the site where the British code breakers deciphered some of the first German messages in WWII.  The site, Bletchly Park is just a few minutes outside MK. Some interesting things I learned from the day there:

-Bletchley Park was the site of the Axis powers main decryption establishment
-The site (once the estate of a wealthy London stock broker) was chosen for its proximity to the rail lines to London, and it sat conveniently between Oxford and Cambridge where it gleaned its talent
- Pigeons were dropped in battle to take the intercepted German encrypted messages back to Bletchly park(what!?) Dropped with parachutes they would return to Blechly Park to start the decoding
-The Germans used "Enigma" machines (shown below) to encrypt messages throughout WWII.  The adapted typewriter was used out in the field to scramble messages with over 100 million combinations. The key combinations to the enigma machines changed daily at midnight
-At the height of the operations at Bletchly Park, there were 8,000 people working there, mainly women.  They worked in three, 8 hour shifts, round the clock.  Around D day, they deciphered over 18,000 messages in one day
- Without the machine below, called the "Bombe" invented 1939 by Alan Turing, cracking the German codes would have been impossible. The machine, the precursor to the modern day PC, quickly went through the 100M+ combinations used in German Enigma messages



The main house at Bletchly Park

Interior at main house

Enigma Machines

The Bombe

To close my weekend I did a little more exploring around the city of Milton Keynes. I was told by numerous folks that I HAD to check out the concrete cows. I thought it was a joke. By chance, this weekend I stumbled upon the display in a large outdoor mall in Milton Keynes. It was not the Taj Mahal by any means, but the story behind it did contain some significance - Milton Keynes was an established city by the government of England to promote urban sprawl from London. The artist poking fun at the preconceived notion of the new city held by commentators who had never seen the place, that it would consist entirely of concrete pavements where once there were fields, and where its deprived children would need models to know how real cows once looked.

Look at this beautiful collection:

Concrete Cows

St Andrews

This weekend I got to live a childhood dream - visiting St Andrews, Scotland. Learning to play the game of golf and watching the British Open with my Dad are treasured memories of my childhood. When I got the chance to visit the place where golf began, I took it.  The 22 hours of travel over the course of 2 days was 100% worth it.

The First Tee and 18th Green of The Old Course

The town of St Andrews was much more than I had imagined. To be honest, I was going for the golf, but it turned out to be one of the most spectacular places I've ever been, golf aside.

Martyrs Monument erected 1842 commemorating the Protestant reformers executed in St Andrews 300 years earlier during the Scottish Reformation

The entire town is walkable in one day, but to get a true appreciation of the city and it's rich history, you could spend a lot of time here.  I was able to take in some of the scenery before playing golf in the afternoon. Castle ruins and St Andrews Cathedral like those below are set amongst modern residences/businesses right off main street. Very visible is the regions violent history.



St Andrew's Castle overlooking the North Sea, originally built in 1189.  Destroyed and rebuilt several times as it changed hands between the Scots and English, what remains was built 1400.

St Andrews Cathedral, built 1158 was the center of the Medieval Catholic Church in Scotland. It fell into ruin during 16th century Scottish Reformation, after which Catholic mass was outlawed.

 

The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews is one of the oldest and most prestigious golf clubs in the world. The clubhouse shown below overlooks the 1st tee of the Old Course. 

For all my travels, I was not able to play the Old Course, where the British Open is played every 5 years. By the time I arrived by bus, there were already 50 people in line to take 12 single slots. Part of the reason it is so tough for the public to play the Old Course is the fact the course is closed for events and tournaments much of the year. During the month of September for example, the course was only open 7 days. The course is also closed on Sundays. I was able to play the "New Course" and part of the "Jubilee Course" which are owned and operated by the St Andrews Trust, the same charitable organization that runs the Old Course.  The holes I played were right along the West Sands Beach of the North Sea. Many of the holes were intermixed with the Old Course. Although, certainly not the legacy of the Old Course, it was still neat to play along the beach where the game began.

  

 At the end of the day I asked a gentleman to take a picture of me in front of the clubhouse. In talking for a while he mentioned he was lucky enough to be a member of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews and asked if I would like a tour through the private clubhouse. What luck! There were rooms with all the clubs throughout golf's history, there was a library that had to hold over 10,000 books - all of them on golf. He took me through the lockers where golf's greatest players prepared for battle on the links. There were many trophy rooms, but the most impressive sight inside was the original Claret Jug, given to the British Open Champion since 1872, and still is to this day. The Claret Jug is on the right in my picture below.  The Challenge Belt (middle) was awarded to the Open champion prior to 1872, and the large trophy on the left goes to the British Amateur Champion.

The short trip to St Andrews is one I will never forget.

"Tom Morris" - 18th hole of the Old Course at St Andrews

The first week

The week started with my first day at Mazars.  The office is very close, only 2 blocks away.  The office is modern, efficient and impressive. There are about 200 people in the office, which is comprised of financial planning, audit and tax in order of size, respectively.

No one has their own office. Everyone is seated in rows, in an open office environment that encourages collaboration and community. Treats are stashed in a common area and available for all.  It is expected on your birthday to bring in something sweet for the team.

It is hard to imagine packing all the work on our desks in the U.S. into a 4ft section in a community row, and Mazars isn't paperless.

In the center there are break out offices for discussions between colleagues or phone calls.

 

For more formal meeting with clients, the office contains a number of offices.

 I learned a lot my first week about the work at Mazars. There are a lot of fascinating projects dealing with international tax, R&D credits, transfer pricing, VAT, and taxation of professional athletes and entertainers. Business is inherently international here because of the proximity to so many other countries. Imagine the transfer pricing, international tax, currency issues if each state were a different country with different currencies.  That is the landscape for a UK tax advisor. 

 

Some interesting things I've learned so far:

• Individuals in the UK do not typically file tax returns
• "National Insurance" is deducted from pay & provides free healthcare to everyone in the UK
• No sales tax in the UK (but VAT is similar)
• No depreciation is allowed on buildings
• No mortgage interest is allowed as personal deduction (accountants gasp!) on individuals that are required to file returns
• Client Meals and Entertainment is 100% non deductible
• Most energy efficient property (vehicles/equipment) is fully deductible

Outside of work I was able to take in more of what England has to offer.  Ed Tomlinson, a colleague at Mazars took me to a MK Dons football game.The Milton Keynes stadium is new and grand, it reminded me of the Roman Colosseum. The MK Don's 3-1 victory was exciting, I was pretty pumped up to cheer them on, but I had nothing on the locals. I now know where most youth in England pick up their profanity.

 After a  little football, we went out for some dinner and drinks in a village NW of Milton Keynes called Stony Stratford.  It was the quintessential English village pictured in my mind.  The village was an important stopping-off point for mail and passenger coaches traveling between London and the northern cities of England in the 18th/19th centuries. Many of the coach inn's and restaurants are still in existence.

A church right on the main street

The guys I played golf with last weekend asked if I wanted to join them again this weekend. They play in a league called the "Friends of Golf Society".  Very official league, I'm sure.  This week was the Lairy Trouser Invitational. The picture below tells the story, I had a great day with these guys.  Many of the blokes have been lifetime mates and it was funny to listen to them banter back and forth, I understood about 20% of what they were saying.  I didn't see this one coming when I was packing for the trip so I'm the guy hiding in the back ashamed of his trousers.

 The warm welcome by everyone here is overwhelming. I've been lucky to forge some great friendships already and for that I'm grateful.

My first days..

Entering England I understood there was a lot to learn. I knew they drove on the other side of  the road, but it was still strange getting in the passenger seat.  And yes, everyone here drinks Red Bull.

My first month I will be working for Mazars in their Milton Keynes office.  This is a city about the size of Charleston, 45 minutes north of London.  I live in an apartment in the city center which is convenient because without a car I walk everywhere.  Living in a high rise takes some getting used to but I can't argue with the view!

A few of the things I have already learned:

• Every outlet has a switch to turn it on or off. Be careful in the kitchen to turn off the stove but not the refrigerator.
• Most apartments like mine don't have "AirCon" (air conditioning) in them because it is so mild year round.
• Cloths are washed and dried in the same magical device.
• There are coins for what seem to be every denomination (I have considered buying a man purse).
• The term "quid" means pound and they count pennies in "pence" (cents).

My first day of exploring I went for a run through Campbell Park.  It is one of the many parks nearby.  It has areas with animals and amusements for children, sculptures and quiet vistas overlooking windmills. At the very end of the park there are two large ponds, one is used for paddle boating and canoeing and the other is a cable park for wakeboarders.

 A little cricket anyone?

Families canoeing at Willen Lake

 MK Cable Park

 

Rivers wind through the entire park, making it very scenic. A little too scenic, I got lost and my 5mi run turned into a 10 mile run. I'm not a runner and I was definitely feeling it on Sunday!

 

 

My first weekend in Milton Keynes ended after a round on the links. I got paired up with a couple of guys who were hilarious and they did not stop making fun of my American accent.  After the round I grabbed my first pint in England and traded some stories on customs and culture.  It is amazing how different our cultures are, but how similar we live our lives and love our families.

A beautiful day for golf in England!

 

Time to get geared up for my first day in office tomorrow!