Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many promoters of tax avoidance schemes have been fined for failures to inform their clients that registration under the Disclosure of Tax Avoidance Scheme legislation does not signify that a scheme has been approved by HMRC in each of the last five years.

HMRC does not approve tax avoidance schemes.

Promoters are required to give scheme users the tax avoidance ‘Scheme Reference Number (SRN)’ issued by HMRC when an avoidance scheme is disclosed under the Disclosure of Tax Avoidance Scheme (DOTAS). For schemes disclosed since the end of March 2015, which involve employers and their employees, the employer is required to give the SRN to those employees.

The forms that promoters and employers are required to use make it clear to the recipient that they are “involved in a Disclosed Tax Avoidance Scheme” and that the scheme is “not HMRC approved”. They also provide clear information to inform would‑be tax avoiders of the risks they face by using avoidance schemes.

HMRC has no evidence to suggest that promoters and employers are not complying with these obligations.