Up to 90%

[maybe a little bit naive]

Hi All,

Long time reader first time contributer

I have been contracting for a few years now and used to work through an umbrella and then moved on to a limited company. Before I moved to Ltd I was looking at moving to one provider who was offering "up to 90% and after reading the comments on here I quickly abandoned that idea and went for the LTD company set up.

I have since been contacted by a provider (not sure how they got my details) and are offering up to 90% again and they went through how it all worked etc and although it does sound too good to be true they are very convincing.

Is there anyone on here who has had first hand experience of using one because looking back at some of the threads from 2009 people are saying "the HMRC will close these down" and they are on "HMRC Radar" however they are still going so would that not suggest they are ok?

Basically what they are saying is the that the loan will be issued to me by a trust and I will be a beneficiary which means I will be protected by trust law when it comes to repaying as the trustees will have to act in my best interests so if its not in my best interests to repay it I wont have to.

They said the loan is a true loan and it cant be written off as it will cause a taxable event.

Any help would be appreciated as I dont know anything about trusts or how they work.

[cojak]

Work your way through this: HMRC Scheme Enquiries

Paying particular attention to this: http://forums.contractoruk.com/hmrc-...tor-loans.html - ask your snakeoil salesman about inheritance tax and HMRC...

I used to laugh at suckers people who bought into these kind of scams schemes, now I just dump them into the appropriate thread in the HMRC Enquiries forum.

[TykeMerc]

If you're a long time reader then you can't fail to have seen the horror stories that people who used aggressive tax planning are coming out with.

These schemes are firmly in HMRC's sights, just because an individual one hasn't been attacked by HMRC yet is no kind of comfort factor, it just means they haven't got round to it yet. HMRC don't work fast and they're quite content for things to take years, they're even talking about the application of Inheritance Tax to the EBT loans so your estate would be attacked on your death which would affect your relatives.

By all means go in for one of these schemes, but don't expect any sympathy when you get torn to pieces financially by HMRC in the long run.

[DonkeyRhubarb]

Is there anyone on here who has had first hand experience of using one...

Yes, me and thousands of others.

If you want to end up screwed like us, go for it.

[slatt]

Don't do it!!!

If you really have been a long time reader then either you've been reading a different site or you think people have been joking when they say their lives have been turned upside down by this.

HMRC are chasing the USERS of these schemes, NOT THE PROVIDERS, who will disappear leaving nothing for the tax man to chase after.

The providers will gladly tell you anything they think you'll want to hear regarding legality of their scheme and your chances of an investigation before taking your money and then dissolving to leave you hanging when the tax man comes a'calling.

If you sign up to a scheme after reading even a tenth of the stories on here then there is no helping you....

[BrilloPad]

Is there anyone on here who has had first hand experience of using one because looking back at some of the threads from 2009 people are saying "the HMRC will close these down" and they are on "HMRC Radar" however they are still going so would that not suggest they are ok?

MTM started in 2000 and HMRC aware of the scheme in 2001. I joined in 2006. It was closed RETROSPECTIVELY in 2008. There are 3000 still fighting this and are probably going to lose.

You fancy 7 years+ of stress - go right ahead.

BP

[Boobetty]

I am genuinely speechless at reading this post, and can only hope you read the responses above.

Admin....can this thread be moved to HMRC enquiries? Because if the OP goes ahead with this scheme he or she will have an enquiry sooner or later.

[eek]

I am genuinely speechless at reading this post, and can only hope you read the responses above.

Admin....can this thread be moved to HMRC enquiries? Because if the OP goes ahead with this scheme he or she will have an enquiry sooner or later.

No it really does need to live in the umbrella forum to explicitly show what those umbrellas offering unrealistic deals are really offering.

[LisaContractorUmbrella]

HM Revenue & Customs: Avoidance schemes currently in the spotlight

HTH

With regard to their 'convincing arguments' about the effectiveness of the scheme I have just one comment - well, they would say that wouldn't they!

[DonkeyRhubarb]

Schemes are dead going forward

Or at least on their very last legs.

There can't be many contractors now who aren't aware that schemes are a recipe for disaster.

For a scheme to be economically viable, you need a fair few mugs to sign up just to cover legal/admin costs.

I just can't see the numbers being out there for anyone to make any money out of them.