About Steve Livingston
Steve Livingston is a specialist tax adviser for founders and owner-managers who are building something valuable.
IP Tax Solutions helps with the tax moments that matter: raising money, giving people equity, building valuable IP, defending R&D claims, fixing shareholder structures, planning succession and preparing for exit.
Most companies meet each of these moments once. Steve has spent 25 years dealing with them.
When Founders Bring Steve In
Steve is most useful when the issue has meaningful financial consequences, several moving parts, or a risk that will only become obvious later.
That might mean SEIS/EIS before a raise, EMI before options are granted, R&D before or during HMRC scrutiny, Patent Box around valuable IP, a cap table that needs fixing, or shareholder planning before a transaction.
The work is specialist, judgement-led and direct.
Background
Steve founded IP Tax Solutions in 2013 after more than a decade in corporate tax.
He has a law degree, qualified as a Chartered Accountant at KPMG, rose to senior manager, and later became a tax partner at Crowe. In 2012 he left to focus on the tax of founders, equity and owner-managed companies.
That grounding matters because this corner of tax is unforgiving of generalists. The reliefs are generous, the conditions are precise, and the cost of a missed condition often appears years later in due diligence or an HMRC enquiry.
How Steve works
Steve is direct. If a position is defensible, he will say so and help defend it. If it is not, he will say that too, before you spend money trying to defend something weak.
Specifics matter more than adjectives. Steve has defended substantial R&D claims against HMRC challenge, agreed SEIS and EIS structures with HMRC, negotiated EMI valuations, resolved difficult shareholder and cap table issues, and helped founders avoid expensive mistakes before they became visible.
Professional standards
IP Tax Solutions Ltd is regulated by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. Steve Livingston LLB FCA is a Fellow of the ICAEW.
Where to start
For a significant specialist project, use One-off Advisory:
https://www.iptaxsolutions.co.uk/one-off-advisory/
For the January 2027 six-month founder cohort, use Founder Circle:
https://www.iptaxsolutions.co.uk/founder-circle/
For shorter thinking from Steve by email, join Notes from Steve:
https://www.iptaxsolutions.co.uk/notes-from-steve/