"I could not be happier with the service…"

I could not be happier with the service and advice that I received yesterday with regard to my Stamp Duty issue. Sam dealt with everything in a very efficient and accurate manner

"Great Advice!"

Advisor - Arshana Anuraj explained me in full detail. She had no hesitation to call me while I am located in Hong Kong.

"Impeccable service and professional team!"

Impeccable service. We worked with them on some tax rebates for our company as we have overpaid tax on some of our properties over the years and they guided us every step of the way. From providing us with a comprehensive list of what was required, to giving us advice on where else to find what we didn't have, they ultimately handled everything until we got a response in a very organised and professional manner. We would totally recommend them and get their services again.

"A massive thank you to Tax Analyst"

A massive thank you to Tax Analyst, Arshana Anuraj. She is a massive asset to the team. Her correspondence was quick and professional. She helped answer a complex query I had. Others had tried to charge me close to £400 for a yes/no answer. Cornerstone were reasonable and for that, they will have my business for any future queries I will have. I wouldn't hesitate to use Cornerstone going forward. Thank you!!

"I knew very little about my SDLT…"

Knowing very little about my SDLT rights I spoke with Aamirah who made everything so simple to take on board. Phone calls giving us chance to talk things through as opposed to many to and from emails, that don't express the little things.
Well all sorted now and extremely pleased with the service received

"Unprofessional - avoid "

Save yourself the stress and significant costs of dealing with this organisation.

I was given SDLT planning by Cornerstone Tax in 2014. After several years of them claiming their advice was correct, the HMRC have deemed it not to be. For years I had to chase them for updates that were vague, non committal and providing faalse reassurance. They never proactively communicated, most notably to inform us that they had put the original Cornerstone Tax into liquidation and handed over the HMRC investigation to Goldstone - another part of the same organisation.

They informed everyone that they were effectively on their own with a poorly formatted email sent (unsigned) on a Friday night.

Despite several requests to discuss this with them professionally, they have failed to respond, forcing me to write this review.

This is a genuine customer experience with the Cornerstone organisation. The current Cornerstone Tax has the same brand name, web address, contact details and some of the same staff as the Cornerstone Tax that provided us with poor advice and poor customer service. Indeed their current website states that they have been providing SDLT advice sinse 2006, so the experience of anyone using Cornerstone since then is highly relevant.

Don't make the same mistake we did

Readers can make up their own mind, but they should do their due diligence. I have evidence that current employees of Cornerstone Tax were involved in what has now been deemed to be a 'tax avoidance scheme'. For the record, I did not willingly enter into a tax avoidance scheme - I was in fact specifically told that it was not a tax avoidance scheme by those who sold it on behalf of cornerstone. It is the HMRC who deemed Cornerstone's advice to have broken tax law.

It is sickening to see a company that has been 'pheonixed' trading under a claim that it has been providing SDLT advice since 2006 and then claiming that it has nothing to do with schemes prior to 2020. Goldstone are in fact part of the same Cornerstone group, which includes the current incarnation of cornerstone tax (and include staff who were involved with the original scheme).

"Do not delivery on what they promise."

Obtained advice in 2020 re SDLT. I've just received a note from them today saying, 3 years on, they have been under investigation by the HMRC and I should now deal with HMRC directly. Do not use.

4/5/23 Update: Following the comment from Company that I may not be a legitimate customer. Please see appointment letter date 10th Jan 2020 ref ADV/JK/DH/CAS006563

"DO NOT USE"

Very disappointed in the services received and the unprofessional approach to communication taken by Cornerstone. Would strongly recommend avoiding. Initially selling me a product that at best was already under investigation. Then choosing to with hold information about their discussions with HMRC that would have impacted my decision and saved me thousands of pounds in interest. Possibly the worst part of it all is informing me that their tax planning has been unsuccessful (5 years on!) via a generic email sent at 6pm on a Friday evening! I believe it is when things go wrong that a company has the opportunity to show its true colours and in this instance Cornerstone has shown itself to be cowardly, unprofessional and clearly only interested in taking their fee.

"WARNING DO NOT USE"

WARNING DO NOT USE. We were advised to use them for SDLT planning 6yrs ago. Told verbally never been challenged, would receive a full refund if challenged - therefore be in same position and only need to pay SDLT to HMRC plus interest, a no-lose gamble effectively. When it comes to the crunch and HMRC are hounding you, Cornerstone are nowhere to be seen, now advising to pay it and not refunding the fees - saying it was not in the contract. I know of at least 4 other people who were told the same thing verbally. Still using same emails, phone number and website - everything is the same.
**FURTHER INFO** SEE JB REVIEW (NOW REMOVED I BELIEVE) & James mentioning David Hannah is longer involved, yet on there very own page today DAVID HANNAH GROUP CHAIRMAN OF CORNERSTONE IS COMMENTING ON 100% MORTGAGES - SO HE IS STILL INVOLVED WITH CORNERSTONE - YOU ARE NOT GIVING ACCURATE INFORMATION JAMES. SCREENGRAB TAKEN AS WELL FOR PROOF.
I can also now see from your site you have removed the scrolling reviews from the bottom of the page because you are getting so many negative reviews!
**EDIT** Asked to remove review (24/4/23). Now received a request today (26/4/23) to provide further information. No I will not provide you with my details via this platform. You have my details - YOU HAVE NOT RESPONDED TO ANY OF MY EMAILS OR CALLS! You may have changed your company name - but you are same staff, same website, same emails, even link on home page to Trust Pilot now brings you to the name change. It is called Phoenixing. A lot of companies do this when the proverbial hits the fan to avoid dealing with complaints, responsibility and compensation and restitution.

"Avoid this company - Tax Advoidance Scheme"

If you use this company it will change your life for the worst not for the better, I was advised to use Cornerstone many years ago for a purchase of a property. We paid the stamp duty but was advised from Cornerstone that I could receive a refund and get the SDLT back. Cornerstone took a rather large chunk of the refund as payment for there services. Now I'm being chased by HMRC for over 15k as they believe this to be a tax avoidance scheme. Needless to say, Cornerstone won't take responsibility nor will they cover the debt or refund me any money. It has also been brought to my attention that the company is now in Liquidation and a new company has emerged which is Cornerstone Tax 2020. Same email address and website but now linked to Trust Pilot as a new company. Something isn't right. If this new company is any better than the last one, hopefully they will take responsibility and settle these mistakes but I doubt it. Instead I'm being strongly urged to delete this review.