Skip to content

Posts tagged ‘tax avoidance’

28
Aug

Tax Avoidance Schemes Too Good To Be True?

Tax avoidance schemes & how HMRC is beating themHMRC is warning that if a tax avoidance scheme sounds too good to be true, then it probably is! HMRC’s powers to crack down and recoup revenues lost through tax avoidance schemes have grown significantly over the last couple of years, as we’ve reported from time to time over on the Tax Blog.  Starting this month, HMRC will begin targeting the 33,000 individuals and 10,000 companies which they believe have been using one or more of the 1200 tax avoidance schemes it identified, following the recent inception of the Finance Act and the resulting ‘Disclosure of Tax Avoidance Scheme‘ (DOTAS) disclosures. Those who have used these questionable schemes are likely to fall foul of the ‘accelerated payment’ requirements which the new Finance Act allows HMRC to demand. With some schemes reportedly dating back to 2004, some are in for a very hefty bill.

In a similar move, anyone who holds funds in an offshore account and fails to declare them to HMRC may soon be officially committing a criminal offence and could face the real prospect of a prison sentence. Under the proposed new plans, financial penalties could be unlimited and Read moreRead more

14
Nov

Undeclared income: how to get yourself out of a tax nightmare

Last year, Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC) clawed back a mind-boggling £21 billion from would-be tax evaders and avoiders. This represents a steep jump from previous years and sends a strong signal to those who are trying to avoid paying their fair share of tax in the UK. The message is definitely ‘We will find you’ for those who are not playing fair with taxable income. HMRC have even set up a new website, which is being widely advertised at time of writing, aimed at exactly those people. They are not quite offering an amnesty but the site, and links from it, give you the distinct impression that it’s better to voluntarily disclose undeclared income – and even actual tax fraud – than it would be to hide away and wait for them to eventually come knocking on your door, bearing in mind the technological advances and extra staff at their disposal in recent times. In the case of voluntarily admitting to tax fraud, there is even an option of signing what’s known as a CDF contract with HMRC, whereby you make certain promises and take certain actions in exchange for HMRC promising not to criminally prosecute you for the fraud in question. So there is a definite, large incentive to come clean before you are actually caught!

Guy Bridger is in a prime position to help anyone concerned about their tax situation as he specialises in the more messy tax scenarios and can help out in a clear, focused, professional way — after all, he deals with HMRC every single working day on behalf of his many, many private and business clients. Guy can be contacted on  07766 495 871 or email guybridger[at]gmail.com

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox

Join other followers:

%d bloggers like this: