Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the total cost of resolving all remaining Loan Charge cases broken down by (a) the 32,000 individual cases currently unsettled, (b) cases involving HMRC demand from before December 2021 and (c) all demands from after April 2019.

At Budget 2024, the Government committed to a new independent review of the loan charge. The purpose of the review was to bring the matter to a close for people who have not settled and paid their Loan Charge liabilities.

The Government has accepted all but one of the Review’s recommendations, and in some areas has gone further. The Government has introduced legislation in the Finance Act to provide for a generous new settlement offer which it hopes maximises the opportunity for individuals to come forward and settle. I am committed to deliver the Government’s ambition to bring this matter to a close for as many customers as possible.

Whilst HMRC assesses the overall resources needed to carry out Loan Charge compliance activity, this is not based on detailed case-by-case forecasts. HMRC is required to collect tax due under the law. The progression and resolution of Loan Charge cases depend on a range of variable and often uncertain factors. These include the extent to which taxpayers choose to engage with HMRC to settle their enquiries.

In line with most tax policy changes, Tax Impact and Information Note (TIIN) setting out HMRC’s assessment of the impacts of the Loan Charge were published when the Loan Charge was announced in 2016. Further TIINs were published alongside subsequent changes to the Loan Charge.