RegulationJul 15 2014

HMRC publishes list of tax avoidance schemes

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People who have invested in tax-saving schemes are now able to check whether they are likely to find a demand for upfront payment from HM Revenue and Customs, reports the FT’s Adam Palin.

HMRC today (15 July) published a list of arrangements that it deems to be tax avoidance schemes.

Investors in these schemes may receive a so-called accelerated payment notice from August, following royal assent of the finance bill later this month. HMRC says it will notify people over 20 months.

The notices, which cannot be appealed, will require their recipients to pay the tax disputed by the Revenue within 90 days of arriving in letterboxes. HMRC says that it will write to taxpayers before issuing a notice.

The sums in question could run into millions of pounds, depending on the scale of a taxpayer’s investment, potentially requiring the prompt liquidation of assets to meet HMRC’s demands.

HMRC estimates that accelerated payment notices relating to existing avoidance cases currently under dispute will be issued to roughly 33,000 taxpayers concerning £5.1bn of tax.

David Gauke, exchequer secretary to the Treasury, said: “Accelerated payments will tackle the small minority of taxpayers who are currently able to put off paying tax, sometimes for several years. This will put them on the same footing as the majority of taxpayers who pay their tax up front.”

The published list includes over a thousand scheme reference numbers, known as Dotas numbers, which investors will have previously included on their tax returns.