HMRC is asking anyone with experience of either DOTAS or the VAT Disclosure Regime to help them by answering a short questionnaire on the regimes. Your experiences are important in helping HMRC form a more complete, objective view of the disclosure regimes. All responses to questionnaires will be anonymised and held confidentially. Questions do not relate to specific discloseable schemes or arrangements. Responses will be analysed collectively and information provided will not be used by HMRC beyond the scope of this review, or to identify individual promoters or users.
In order to guarantee that your feedback is included in the review, HMRC asks that you complete the questionnaire by Friday 20 September 2013.
Treasury announces government action on tax avoidance and evasion
18 September 2013
The government is taking action to stop people avoiding tax by using rules known as compensating adjustments.
The rules, which are designed to avoid double taxation between individuals and connected companies, are increasingly being used by individuals to reduce their income tax bill.
HMRC has evidence that the rules are being exploited in two areas. In the first, partnerships pay companies for services at cost price and use the tax rules to create a mark-up which is not actually paid, but which reduces the bill of individual partners. In the second type of case seen by HMRC, individuals lend money to a company in which they are a shareholder, charging excessive interest payments on which they do not pay full income tax.
The government will change the law to remove this avoidance opportunity, following a period of informal consultation on the technical detail.
Separately, HMRC is to launch a campaign targeting landlords who are failing to pay the tax due on rents they receive on their properties.
HMRC estimates that up to 1.5 million landlords may have underpaid or failed to pay up to £500 million in tax in 2009 to 2010.
The campaign will target all landlords, but will be focussing compliance activity into specific landlord ‘types’, for example, those who own more than one property, specialist landlords who rent to students, people with holiday lets and those who let houses in multiple occupation. The campaign will give landlords who owe tax the opportunity to come forward voluntarily to put their tax affairs in order. If they do not do this and HMRC finds them first they will face bigger penalties and could face criminal proceedings.
HM Treasury/HMRC press release
HMRC policy on withholding repayment claims in avoidance cases
19 September 2013
HMRC has published a Brief setting out their policy on withholding repayment claims in avoidance cases.
CIPP Policy News Journal
16/04/2014, Page 476 of 519
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