The Treasury sub-committee has called on HMRC to work more closely with the professional bodies on standards relating to advice on tax avoidance and allow ‘good time’ for enquiries conducted under the new extended time limits. HMRC should communicate appropriately and do more to support vulnerable taxpayers through tax disputes.
The sub-committee’s report (Disputing tax, see bit.ly/2KYXzwe) covers two separate inquiries, both opened in March 2018, concerning tax avoidance and evasion, and the conduct of tax enquiries and resolution of tax disputes. The report concluded that:
HMRC should give vulnerable taxpayers involved in tax disputes better guidance about tax law and more support to understand their rights;
in offering time to pay arrangements to people who want to settle their involvement in contractor loan schemes, and undertaking not to make them bankrupt or force them to sell their family home, HMRC is now taking a sensible administrative approach; and
HMRC’s delay in clarifying this approach and sending settlement calculations to contractors has caused widespread anxiety and distrust.
The CIOT welcomed the report, which comes just after the financial secretary to the Treasury’s announcement on 24 July of actions to reassure taxpayers about the way HMRC exercises its statutory powers. The Institute believes this indicates ‘a determination to have an ongoing and dynamic oversight of HMRC’.
The Treasury sub-committee has called on HMRC to work more closely with the professional bodies on standards relating to advice on tax avoidance and allow ‘good time’ for enquiries conducted under the new extended time limits. HMRC should communicate appropriately and do more to support vulnerable taxpayers through tax disputes.
The sub-committee’s report (Disputing tax, see bit.ly/2KYXzwe) covers two separate inquiries, both opened in March 2018, concerning tax avoidance and evasion, and the conduct of tax enquiries and resolution of tax disputes. The report concluded that:
HMRC should give vulnerable taxpayers involved in tax disputes better guidance about tax law and more support to understand their rights;
in offering time to pay arrangements to people who want to settle their involvement in contractor loan schemes, and undertaking not to make them bankrupt or force them to sell their family home, HMRC is now taking a sensible administrative approach; and
HMRC’s delay in clarifying this approach and sending settlement calculations to contractors has caused widespread anxiety and distrust.
The CIOT welcomed the report, which comes just after the financial secretary to the Treasury’s announcement on 24 July of actions to reassure taxpayers about the way HMRC exercises its statutory powers. The Institute believes this indicates ‘a determination to have an ongoing and dynamic oversight of HMRC’.
