Our team

Stephen Oates

Tax Director and Head of Entrepreneurial Taxes

Stirling Office,
E: stephen.oates@jcca.co.uk
Connect on LinkedIn

A Tax Director in our Specialist Taxes team, Stephen is a member of the Chartered Institute of Taxation and is CTA qualified. He joined Johnston Carmichael in August 2022. He has more than 17 years’ experience in tax, with significant expertise in working with owner-managed businesses.

Stephen heads up Johnston Carmichael’s Entrepreneurial Taxes team, working with advisers across the business to support the delivery of venture capital schemes and share schemes. In his role his main focus is advising on Enterprise Management Incentives (EMI) schemes, share valuations, Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) and Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS). Stephen enjoys working with clients in order to help grow their business and believes the Entrepreneurial Taxes team at Johnston Carmichael is a key tool in achieving this. There are many opportunities for companies looking at ways to retain and reward their best staff.

Stephen’s experience allows him to advise clients on which option is best suited to help them achieve their desired outcome, be it EMI, Growth Shares or EOT to name but a few. SEIS and EIS is a complex area of tax but can have significant benefits for both companies seeking investment and individuals looking to benefit from the tax reliefs available to them. Stephen has experience in advising on both, as well as dealing with HMRC in relation to their qualifying status and seeking advance assurance.

Stephen also leads our Employer Services offering and focuses on driving long-term growth, including in new regions such as Newcastle and the North East. Key to this growth is focusing on the areas that can either add the most benefit to clients, such as salary sacrifice or moving to the use of electric vehicles, or to better protect clients' exposure to risk in the areas of IR35, CIS and National Minimum Wage.

Stephen’s forward-looking approach and ability to adapt to change is a significant asset within the ever-changing tax landscape.

When not working, Stephen can be found playing golf or coaching his son's under 9s football team.