Dodgy tax schemes - are they worth it?

[ChimpMaster]

Just don't pay any tax at all and 7 years later they can't investigate you.

Seriously though, where I work I know a number of contractors who used to be with Steed Solutions. Steed were simply told to cease operating in that capacity, and as far as I know none of the contractors were billed by HMRC for extra tax.

I don't know the details - maybe someone here can recall what happened with Steed?

[malvolio]

What people tend to forget is that a lot of these schemes using offshore facilities of various flavours don't actually avoid tax, they merely delay you paying it. So come out of the scheme and all of a sudden you have a back-tax bill since all your income is still UK-based...

As regards the Service Company question on the SA form, we're still waiting for legal advice but right now there is no such thing legally so you can justifiably answer "no".

[Dark Black]

...As regards the Service Company question on the SA form, we're still waiting for legal advice but right now there is no such thing legally so you can justifiably answer "no".

The definition on P17 of the draft guide http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/sa_drafts/sa150.pdf seems robust though - would we not be on dodgy ground by not answering that question(for a typical one-person ltd)? Or am I missing something....?

[malvolio]

The definition on P17 of the draft guide http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/sa_drafts/sa150.pdf seems robust though - would we not be on dodgy ground by not answering that question(for a typical one-person ltd)? Or am I missing something....?

Ther are various reasons to challenge that, not least that it forms no part of a tax calculation under existing law. If you are subject to IR35, then there is a box on the P35 to declare it, and that is all that is required. This question is a statistics gathering exercise, not a tax evaluation.

Equally there is no legal basis for separating out companies owned by a small number of shareholders - Ford UK, Virgin or BHS are some current examples...

[Dark Black]

Ther are various reasons to challenge that, not least that it forms no part of a tax calculation under existing law. If you are subject to IR35, then there is a box on the P35 to declare it, and that is all that is required. This question is a statistics gathering exercise, not a tax evaluation.

Equally there is no legal basis for separating out companies owned by a small number of shareholders - Ford UK, Virgin or BHS are some current examples...

Ah... I see where you are coming from now... good call.