Hill Dickinson will ask its non-equity partners to invest 30% of their salary into the firm, ahead of changes to the tax rules for limited liability partnerships (LLPs).

The move is currently subject to a consultation, which kicked off a fortnight ago. Exact details of the plan will be presented to the partnership at the end of the month, with the firm hoping to raise the capital by 31 March.

In exchange for contributing the capital, each salaried partner will be given a nominal equity point.

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) will in April bring in new rules to clarify whether equity and non-equity partners of LLPs should be taxed as employees.

The rules state that members or partners with less than a 25% stake in the LLP will be treated as an employee of the LLP, and as such subject to tax and national insurance contributions from the firm.

"What we're doing is in line with what we understand the vast majority of law firms are doing," managing partner Peter Jackson (pictured) told Legal Week. "The capital raised, in our case, will be used to further strengthen the balance sheet."

Jackson added that the firm is not currently looking to move to an all-equity partnership, but thinks "that is where HMRC is driving all law firms".
"Thirty per cent is about certainty for partners and consistency," he added.

Last August, Hill Dickinson issued a £2.8m capital call to fixed-share and equity partners following a period of investment, resulting in 107 partners contributing an extra £1,000 per equity point.