IPSE agrees with House of Lords report criticising HMRC’s 2019 Loan Charge

• 4 Dec 2018

IPSE strongly agrees with a damning report by the House of Lords which criticises HMRC’s ‘aggressive’ compliance efforts on the 2019 Loan Charge.

The House of Lords, like IPSE, urged HMRC to refocus its compliance efforts on those who promoted and profited from the off-shore loan schemes. The report recommends a more reasonable approach to those who have suffered tremendous strain because of the schemes.

Andy Chamberlain, IPSE’s Deputy Director of Policy, commented: “HMRC’s aggressive approach to the 2019 Loan Charge has caused financial ruin and serious emotional distress for tens of thousands of taxpayers and their families.

“A central criticism of the House of Lords’ report is that HMRC has been too aggressive in its pursuit of those who used the schemes. Instead, like IPSE, the report calls for HMRC to re-focus its compliance efforts on those who had promoted and profited from their use.

“The report’s description of HMRC’s approach as ‘aggressive’, ‘unfair’, ‘devastating’ and a ‘tax on justice’ is a damning indictment of a retrospective taxation which has left many with substantial repayment demands. Indeed, at a recent Westminster Hall Debate, a group of cross-party MPs called on the Government to stop applying the tax retrospectively.

“IPSE recently wrote to the Chancellor to urge the government against this most aggressive approach to tax compliance. With IR35 reforms already ravaging the self-employed, HMRC must find a better balance and treat taxpayers fairly.

“It is right to tackle tax evasion and tax avoidance but its approach – which HMRC itself has conceded will cause some individuals to ‘become insolvent’ – is having a chilling effect on our flexible labour market.”