With tax planning schemes as with many things in life, what looks too good to be true generally turns out to be so. This seems to be true for tax avoidance schemes using Employee Benefit Trusts (EBTs). During the summer HMRC won a landmark case at the Supreme Court against Glasgow Rangers Football Club concerning the payment of players and other employees via EBTs. Rangers had argued that the payments were not liable to PAYE and national insurance. The court has agreed with HMRC that the payments should have been treated as remuneration.

The government have been trying to block such schemes for many years with anti-avoidance legislation but various alternative planning strategies have been devised to sidestep the anti-avoidance rules.

As a consequence of the Rangers Supreme Court decision, HMRC are now pursuing employers who have used similar payment arrangements, including Employer Funded Retirement Benefit Schemes (EFURBS), and in appropriate cases will be issuing follower notices and accelerated payment notices to collect the PAYE, NICs, interest and penalties.

Our tax ethos is very low risk.  If we believe a business or individual is falling foul of regulations, then we point this out to them – confidentially of course!  We apply tax reliefs as intended by parliament to ensure business and individuals pay the minimum correct tax.  We don’t indulge in tax avoidance that stretches rules to apply tax reliefs in situations they were not intended for.

As with all of our tax tips and web pages this information is necessarily summarised and of a general nature.  If you would like detailed specific advice please contact us.