The Chancellor, Sajid Javid has commissioned a review of the highly controversial loan charge to give taxpayers certainty ahead of the Self-Assessment deadline in January.
Background
The loan charge was intended to tackle disguised remuneration schemes whereby individuals were paid via loans that were never intended to be repaid. At the time individuals being paid from these schemes being told that these schemes were legal. In 2016 HMRC decided to toughen up on tax avoidance and decided to retrospectively seek to recoup up to £3.2billion in unpaid tax through the loan charge policy.
Review
The treasury has asked Sir Amyas Morse to lead the independent review, stating that the review will focus on the impact on those individuals who were using the scheme directly. The aim is for Morse to report back by mid-November, so taxpayers have some certainty ahead of the January Self-Assessment deadline.
Have your say
The review is interested in hearing from a wide range of people and understanding their different perspectives to inform the review. If you would like to provide supporting documentary evidence then you can email secretariat@loanchargereview.org.uk. Given the expedited nature of the review any materials need to be provided by 30th September.
Any evidence sent may be published or referred to as a part of the report, so any information that is confidential needs to be identified with an explanation of why it cannot be published.
In the meantime
Whilst the review is ongoing the government have announced that the loan charge will remain in force in line with current legislation. For anyone not wishing to settle their disguised remuneration scheme at this time, an additional information return will still need to completed by 30th September 2019. Details of how to do this can be found using the link below. Report Loan Disguised Numeration
