To leave a review you need to be logged in
Reviews 243
Nick L
Nov 22,2024As previous customers have stated. They are helpful at the first but once the scheme fails they will ignore you and put the company into administration so no chance of getting your fee back.
Jacqui Taylor
Jun 06,2024Same issue as previous reviews. No help what so ever with the SDLP scheme which has failed. Worse than useless
Steven Marley
May 29,2024Do not touch with a barge pole!!!!!!!!!!!!! They guaranteed me there would be no come back from HMRC and charged me £18,000 for the priviledge. However when HMRC came knocking Cornerstone do not want to know!!!! So they take your money and then don't care. Interestingly enough Cornerstone went into liquidation and then all of a sudden appeared as cornerstone 2020 ltd, probably keeping the same directors in the back ground too!!! I would really like one of your directors to give me a call so we can discuss my case and maybe you will do something about it. Your office have my details so hopefully you can find the time to call me out of courtesy would be nice!!!
Erik Hamburger
May 18,2024Our involvement Cornerstone Tax started in 2010 when we purchased a residential property and took part in a SDLT scheme managed by Goldstone / Cornerstone. There are quite a few such schemes from the period 2008-2015. Some have failed, and participants have had to pay the SDLT due + Interest, but some others look like they may be ultimately successful, due to HMRC making procedural (Legal) errors in their Tax Tribunals. In all fairness I wish we had never entered into this scheme, but we did (in 2010!) and now have to be pragmatic and follow it through. I have rated this company only 4 Stars because their commutations with their long-standing customers could be much improved, and they are very slow to reply or to return messages. However, today I spoke to Mr Huzaifah Malik of Goldstone Tax, who answered all my questions, gave some good advise, and followed this up promptly with an email and Template for the next step he recommended we should take. This advise was confirmed to me as the correct advise when I consulted another, independent, Accountant. Thank you Huzaifah - and I will make it 5 Stars if you win the Upper Tribunal and can finally close the file!
Olivia Hutton
Feb 27,2024It's a shame I can't select 0 as opposed to 1 for rating Cornerstone. I sadly have had the exact same experience as the previous two reviews. They charged a high fee for Tax Planning Services, only for it to fail and are avoiding all contact with regard to our insurance payment. I'm approx 12K out of pocket.
Bushra
Dec 21,2023Sam Child was very helpful he explained the matter thoroughly. Many thanks
Matthew Cawthorne
Dec 05,2023We benefitted from very clearly set out and authoritative advice from Cornerstone on a highly technical issue. Our point of contact had good availability by phone and was highly responsive to written questions as we worked through the details of our question. The company's technical knowledge sets it apart from others in the field, and we would be very willing to use Cornerstone for future requirements - thank you!
John L
Dec 04,2023Cornerstone Tax -v- Goldstone Tax Same people, same e-mail addresses yet they say "oh its not us" because they changed the company name!!!! As I said in my previous review this lot are as slippery as eels. I have correspondence confirming all of this and payments which have been taken for services not supplied. Cornerstone can dance around this problem but its not going away and now forced to take legal action for recovery as they refuse to admit their negligence. could so easily have been resolved amicably.
John Barnes
Nov 29,2023Great service from Usama Virk at Cornerstone. He advised on the proper calculation of Stamp Duty (SDLT) on purchase of a Mixed Use property incorporating multiple dwellings. Also he went the extra mile and filed the SDLT return when our solicitor was having IT problems, and advised how to ensure payment made.
Chris Oneill
Nov 24,2023I couldn't recommend Usama Virk from Cornerstone anymore highly! He was great - very understandable, efficient and professional. He understood my unique position and was able to assist, saving me money. Thank you Usama!
Davinder Kaur
Nov 19,2023Needed advice on SDLT the service was fast efficient would recommend
Oldskoolflash
Nov 16,2023The worst decision in my life. I was introduced to Cornerstone by my financial advisor. Based on the reviews and recomendations I decided to proceed with some tax planning. The cost of this was £10,000. This "planning" was recently classed as tax avoidance by HMRC and as a result I have had to pay tens of thousands of pounds in tax owed, interest and penalties. This experience has caused huge emotional and financial distress to me and my family. It has affected me, my wife and our children and we still may lose our home. This in-turn resulted in a serious mental health episode and nearly ended a 20 year relationship. We still have HMRC chasing and the stress, at times, is unbearable. Cornerstone have been utterly shameless and offered zero support or advice. They have not been proactive in their communication or offered any refund of their exorbitant fee. If you want to destroy your life and financial stability then go ahead and use Cornerstone, but let this serve as a warning so you know what you are getting into.
Tim Embleton
Oct 19,2023Following the failure of a stamp duty land tax scheme (as notified by CTA) I am now being ignored. Emails sent in March, April, June, September and now October along with telephone messages have received no response. At the moment I'm c£10,000 out of pocket due to fees and interest.
müge tezcanlı
Sep 18,2023helpful and kind
Gillian
Aug 14,2023Our experience has been a very positive one, the responses we had to our many queries were quick and the advice we had from our appointed advisor, Ashahana Anuraj, were well thought out, friendly and helpful.
Martin Kucera
Aug 08,2023Outstanding service, patient, detailed oriented, polite. Pleasure to deal with!
Mr David Sadowski
Jul 28,2023From 1st contact we were made to feel at ease the whole process was helped with good information and communication.
Deb Forrester
Jul 17,2023Claim guys have been amazing
Alison
Jul 09,2023I was advised to use Cornerstone Tax in 2017 when I purchased my flat for SDLT planning. At the beginning, they seemed to be a professional company, but now HMRC have caught up with the scheme they sold me and they have been completely useful in defending what they had told me to be sound tax advice. This has cost me a lot of money. I recently had to pay nearly £69,000 to HMRC which included the stamp duty, and the interest accrued. This means including the fee paid to Cornerstone, and the tax on the annuity arrangement, this has cost me around £30,000 extra to what I should have paid from the offset, which in hindsight (which is of course a wonderful thing), should have been the course of action. I didn't know at the time, was given poor advice and didn't reflect enough on something that would cost me dearly. Please, if you are reading this review, save yourself the heartache so you don't need to be kicking yourself and thinking 'in hindsight' - this is what trustpilot is set up to do i.e. help consumers navigate companies and aid decision-making. Of course at the beginning they're going to be helpful because they want your money but trust me, after paying over £20K for their services, they've really not delivered and ended up costing me a lot. Of course, they will point out there are caveats to their advice which there are so let those caveats in themselves be a huge red flag. The caveats are there so that when it all falls apart (which is always does because HMRC will catch up on you), they won't come through. I have no motive to write this review but to help others not fall into the same trap because my money is irretrievable now and Cornerstone have already made me sign over the case to their sister company Goldstone, probably so that they can't be held accountable even though I have all the the emails and documents which provide evidence for this saga. Addendum to review since the Cornerstone reply: Cornerstone has replied (see below) and in this message Cornerstone say they didn't handle this scheme which is untrue because I have the emails and documentation to prove that from 2017-2022, the scheme was handled by Cornerstone. It was only when HMRC started pushing on their investigation end of 2022 that they told me to sign a letter of authority to allow their sister company Goldstone to handle it. Please don't try and twist the details in order to mislead other customers - it really don't serve you very well as being a trustworthy company. Again, if you need proof of all of this. I have it and have since supplied my full name, mobile and details of the scheme for you to cross reference. To be crystal clear, in 2017 I paid Cornerstone £21,600 for SDLT planning.
Milestone House, 18 Nursery Court, LE8 0EX, Kibworth, GB
http://www.ctatax.uk.com
Mr Singh
Jan 26,2025DO NOT USE Cornerstone Tax. I had the same experience as the other 3 negative reviews. They are scammers and I am out of pocket by over £21,000 because of them. Their schemes do not work and HMRC do not accept their schemes either. They keep opening and closing companies with similar names and staff. When you make a complaint, they respond back saying we are not the entity that you have engaged with. Avoid cornerstone and goldstone tax at all costs.