Increase in Upfront Payments for Tax Avoiders
The government has in recent weeks announced plans to demand any tax owed upfront by users of tax avoidance schemes ahead of HMRC taking the necessary steps to investigate, and ultimately; challenge, the tax owed in the courts.
This hasn’t come as a shock to observers, with Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne touching upon these plans moving forwards as part of his Autumn Statement in December of last year (2013).
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Disguised Employment Relationships via LLPs
Defining disguised employment as: a limited liability partnership (LLP) member who works for the LLP on terms that are tantamount to employment; Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne announced during Budget 2013 that the government was due to consult on a number of changes to the tax rules on partnerships, including the act of disguising employment relationships through LLPs.
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A summary of GAAR and how it may impact you
There has been much written about the new GAAR legislation since it came into force in July 2013 and the majority of articles are extremely technical and very lengthy. I thought it would be helpful to provide a summary of GAAR and how this may impact you.
The General Anti-Abuse Rule (GAAR), has been introduced in the UK as part of the governments endeavours to combat tax avoidance and evasion. Essentially the GAAR legislation defines what would be considered an ‘abusive tax arrangement’ and aims to counter tax avoidance. GAAR will apply to any arrangements entered into on or after 17 July 2013 and will have important impacts on tax planning arrangements going forward.
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HMRC revise their approach to tax defaulters
From the 1st April 2013, the HMRC introduced their new ‘Managing Serious Defaulters Programme’ with a revised approach to tax defaulters. They have now revised and expanded the criteria they use to define a serious tax defaulter, keeping up the pressure on current and potential tax avoiders.