David Gauke, the Financial Secretary to the Treasury, has announced HMRC has collected £1 billion in tax payments as a results of collecting disputed tax upfront from individuals who are believed to be users of tax avoidance schemes. Any contractors or freelancers currently looking into tax avoidance schemes should think again.
Accelerated payments were introduced by the Government in the Finance Act 2014 and National Insurance Contributions Act 2015 to change issues with suspected avoidance scheme users. Under this rule, disputed tax must be paid by avoidance scheme users.
Tax avoidance cases won by the taxpayer will have any payments repaid with interest although, 80% of these cases are usually won by HMRC.
HMRC have issued more than 25,000 notices regarding disputed tax since August 2014 and now expect to issue around 64,000 notices by the end of 2016 providing £5.5 billion in payments for the Exchequer by March 2020.
David Gauke commented:
“The Government will not tolerate tax avoidance and Accelerated Payments has been a real game changer.”
“It is no longer possible for these individuals to avoid tax and sit on the money while their affairs are investigated. This first £1bn received in Accelerated Payments shows that we are turning the tables on those looking to avoid paying their fair share.”
Currently, any person who have received an Accelerated Payment Notice has 90 days to pay or make representations to HMRC if they believe the notice is incorrect.
Here at Gorilla Accounting, our services are 100% compliant and we only provide advice in line with HMRC’s rules and we do not get involved with any tax avoidance schemes. Our contractor specialists will provide unlimited support and advice alongside our cloud accounting online software. Our all-inclusive accountancy package is just £85 + VAT per month and covers all your business and personal accounting needs.
