“We are pleased that the court has confirmed that Dominic Chappell was wrong when he failed to provide us with information we required as part of our BHS investigation.
Three different judges have now criticised his behaviour and he is left with a criminal conviction.
This case should stand as a further warning to others that if we require information from them and they fail or refuse to provide it, they should expect to be prosecuted and convicted.”
Dominic Chappell was prosecuted after he failed to provide information that TPR had required him to supply as part of its investigation into the purchase and then collapse of BHS, using powers under section 72 of the Pensions Act 2004. He also failed to provide TPR with information about a possible unauthorised disclosure of restricted material.
TPR’s separate anti-avoidance action against Chappell in respect of the BHS pension schemes is continuing.
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Campaigners press government for action on pension tax relief 8 October 2018
The Low Incomes Tax Reform Group (LITRG) is calling on the Government to use the forthcoming Budget and Finance Bill to act on an inconsistency in tax rules which means that more than a million people on low incomes could be losing out on tax relief on their pension contributions. LITRG makes the call in a Budget representation and also as one of the signatories of a letter sent yesterday (Thursday) to Chancellor Philip Hammond. The other signatories include NOW: pensions and two former pensions ministers – Steve Webb and Ros Altmann. Members of relief at source pension schemes (RAS) who do not pay income tax, typically those earning less than £11,850 each year, are entitled to basic rate tax relief on pension contributions up to £2,880 a year. However, this tax relief is not available for non-taxpayers in net pay arrangement schemes (NPA). This means that somebody in NPA, earning £11,850, paying the minimum contributions required under auto enrolment, is missing out on £34.91 in the current tax year as compared to someone in a RAS scheme. LITRG Chair Anne Fairpo said: “Low earners are in a pension lottery through no choice of their own. Those whose employers use traditional RAS schemes receive basic rate tax relief on their contributions. Those – a majority – whose employers use the more recently created NPA schemes do not. This is unfair. “The upcoming increase in pension contribution rates from three per cent to five per cent makes auto enrolment a much bigger consideration for the lowest paid. But many people on low incomes will not be able to obtain the government contribution promised to them to help make up the five per cent and this may act as a disincentive as it makes auto enrolment effectively 20 per cent more expensive for them." In its Budget submission, LITRG suggests a solution that would see HMRC using PAYE Real Time Information (RTI) data to identify those making pension contributions under net pay arrangements. They could then provide tax relief (where appropriate) through an annual reconciliation process – whether that is through self-assessment or – as is more
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Payroll: need to know
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