Petition against retrospective legislation

[IR35 Avoider]

Signed. The legislation is outrageous.

[BrilloPad]

Signed. The legislation is outrageous.

very kind

[ASB]

People like yourself, who didn't use the scheme, but have nevertheless signed put many in the scheme who haven't bothered to shame.

I can understand apathy when it doesn't affect you directly but when you stand to get taken to the cleaners by this legislation then it makes no sense at all.

Thank you!

I signed up pretty much as soon as you put it up. But I just wonder if there is a reluctance amongst scheme users to sign it because they think they may become more easily identifiable or targetted? If that is the case then I think it is misguided. I am pretty sure that HMRC already know exactly who they are chasing and lack of correspondence from them doesn't leave them off the radar.

Keep at it, you're getting pretty good at cat herding.

[DonkeyRhubarb]

I signed up pretty much as soon as you put it up. But I just wonder if there is a reluctance amongst scheme users to sign it because they think they may become more easily identifiable or targetted? If that is the case then I think it is misguided. I am pretty sure that HMRC already know exactly who they are chasing and lack of correspondence from them doesn't leave them off the radar.

Keep at it, you're getting pretty good at cat herding.

Well over 50% of people in the scheme have now received Closure Notices. HMRC have been very slow in issuing them. I only got mine a couple of weeks ago. They will get round to everyone eventually. Signing a petition isn't going make a jot of difference.

Only a very tiny handful of people in the scheme have avoided discovery yet. By this, I mean they haven't had any correspondence whatsoever from HMRC at any time since the scheme started.

However, I even know someone in this position who has been brave enough to sign it!!!

[SantaClaus]

Well over 50% of people in the scheme have now received Closure Notices. HMRC have been very slow in issuing them. I only got mine a couple of weeks ago. They will get round to everyone eventually. Signing a petition isn't going make a jot of difference.

Only a very tiny handful of people in the scheme have avoided discovery yet. By this, I mean they haven't had any correspondence whatsoever from HMRC at any time since the scheme started.

However, I even know someone in this position who has been brave enough to sign it!!!

And dont forget everyone, even if the time limit has passed for an enquiry into your tax return, HMRC have a knack of manufacturing backdated enquiry letters. They also have a knack of getting Closure Notices lost in the post.

[poppy01]

And dont forget everyone, even if the time limit has passed for an enquiry into your tax return, HMRC have a knack of manufacturing backdated enquiry letters. They also have a knack of getting Closure Notices lost in the post.

I can confirm this to be true. I had an enquiry opened on the basis of 'discovery' 3 years after the closure date for such investigations.

[TykeMerc]

I can confirm this to be true. I had an enquiry opened on the basis of 'discovery' 3 years after the closure date for such investigations.

That's scandalous in itself.

[wurzel]

I did go to sign the petition but couldn't actually see any details about what exactly has been changed.

There was the following paragraph:

Section 58 retrospectively changed a 1987 Act of Parliament.
Taxpayers who relied on the original 1987 Act now unwittingly
find themselves having been in breach of the law.

This doesn't actually say what has been changed and what the implications are so I can't get worked up over
it. Perhaps I'm missing something? Is there any resource out there that sums this up in a nutshell (possibly in one of the many posts in this thread no doubt)?

[OnYourBikeGB]

I can confirm this to be true. I had an enquiry opened on the basis of 'discovery' 3 years after the closure date for such investigations.

Likewise. I had an enquiry opened well after the one year period. The revenue claim that they are entitled to do this where they were unaware of the full workings or did not comprehend he mechanism behind the claim when the claim was made, even though the reason for the exemption is clearly stated. There is on face value (and as far as I know untested in the courts for our scheme) a legal precedent for this. So when you think about it, no-one is ever safe. There is a limit on how far tax investigations can ultimately go back, 25 years I think. Some of the more legally literate bods on the forum could confirm that. So anyone who may be thinking that lying low will save them, I hope you're right, but you may have to lie low for a very long time. Apologies for the vagueness, I'll see if I can dig out the case detail later, unless anyone else knows straight off.

[DonkeyRhubarb]

Only a very tiny handful of people in the scheme have avoided discovery yet. By this, I mean they haven't had any correspondence whatsoever from HMRC at any time since the scheme started.

However, I even know someone in this position who has been brave enough to sign it!!!

FAO: HMRC

This was a retrospective April Fool, so if you are trawling through the list of signatures, you are wasting your time.

Although, come to think of it, that's what you probably spend most of your time doing anyway, so carry on.