HMRC clamping down on the rich and famous
HM Revenue and Customs is tired of being taken for a ride by those rich enough to exploit legal loopholes to avoid paying enough tax – and has decided to “take firm action.”
Over a 1,000 people, including members of Take That and comedian, Jimmy Carr are suspected of using a variety of schemes such as the Jersey based K2 scheme to reduce their tax bills significantly. Individuals resign from their companies and their salary is paid to an off-shore trust. They then receive a much smaller salary and the rest as a ‘loan’, which is not taxable.
Clever, eh? Well the tax people don’t think so and have already started investigating these schemes, whilst claiming that these types of ploys never work. Lawyers working for those taking advantage of this loopholes claim their clients are doing nothing wrong, but the Chief Secretary to the Treasury takes a different view. “No matter how rich or famous you are,” he said, “we are coming to get you.”