Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many businesses have been penalised for marketing or promoting schemes subject to the loan charge as of 2 May 2023.

This question was answered on 9th May 2023
A key part of HM Revenue & Customs’ (HMRC) 2020 strategy for tackling promoters of tax avoidance schemes, such as disguised remuneration (DR) schemes that are within scope of the Loan Charge, is to change their behaviour so that they stop this activity altogether.

HMRC uses a wide range of civil and criminal measures to tackle those who promote tax avoidance. For example, Finance Acts 2021 and 2022 provided HMRC with powers to publish the details of avoidance schemes and those who promote or operate them, in order to support taxpayers in identifying these schemes so they can steer clear or exit them.

HMRC has started to issue stop notices to promoters under the Promoters of Tax Avoidance Schemes legislation. These require them to stop promoting the tax avoidance scheme specified in the notice. Penalties of up to £1 million can be issued for failure to comply. In 2022, the First-Tier Tribunal imposed a penalty in excess of £1 million on a promoter for failing to disclose a scheme under the Disclosure of Tax Avoidance Schemes regime.

As a result of the action the Government has taken to clamp down on marketed tax avoidance, a number of major promoters have now cooperated with HMRC and have either stopped selling schemes or ceased business altogether, and the estimated tax gap from marketed avoidance sold primarily to individuals, has fallen from an estimated £1.5 billion in 2005-2006 to £0.4 billion in 2020-2021.