HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) have secured over £260 million in tax with tribunal battle wins against three tax avoidance schemes.

At the First-Tier Tribunal (FTT), all three Upper Tribunal rulings uphold earlier judgments in HMRC’s favour.

An appeal bought by the investors of a scheme promoted by NT Advisors has been dismissed by the Upper Tribunal. Among the schemes promoted by NT Advisors, this is HMRC’s ninth win against them.

This scheme had 420 investors and was required for creating artificial losses. For doing so, both employment income and capital gains tax rules on share options were used. That is why without hearing substantive arguments from HMRC, the judges dismissed appeal.

The Upper Tribunal also dismissed two bespoke tax avoidance schemes which were intended to give the users a much higher tax-free return on their cash deposits than placing funds in a normal deposit account by the banks. Some year ago, these schemes were marketed and sold by banks for a significant price.

The Financial Secretary to the Treasury, David Gauke, said: The overwhelming majority of people pay the taxes they owe. These latest cases show that HMRC will effectively tackle those who try to get around their legal responsibilities. Users of avoidance schemes should think twice before trying to abuse tax reliefs to avoid paying their fair share of tax.

Since gaining power in 2014 to send accelerated payment notices to tax avoidance scheme users, HMRC is determined to take stand against those tax avoidance schemes.

The three cases are:
• Steve Price, John Myers and James Lucas v HMRC
• Malcolm Healey v HMRC
• Philip Savva, Andrew Savva, Mario Savva, Savva Savva and Kalliopi Pericleous v HMRC

About Harley Street Accountants

We are a group of tax accountants offering a range of services including accounting, taxation, consultancy especially for medical professionals. If you want any guidance regarding the tax avoidance schemes, you can take advice from our very own specialist tax accountants in London.