IOM's Post Budget

[DonkeyRhubarb]

It's not quite what I said either. I said or implied that:
1. it is now viewed as wrong, just as if it were illegal
2. the definition of wrong is now based not on legality but on your effectiveness in reducing tax take from what they think it should be
3. they will legislate to make it illegal as they find it (or retrospectively "clarify" it)
4. they will allocate their resources to investigating you for it
5. they will regard those who do it as being more worthy of investigation in general (a threat if ever I heard one).

In my view, there are only 3 circumstances where it would be worth considering a scheme:

1) Your working practises are unquestionably caught by IR35 ie. LTD has a worse risk/return than using a scheme. (However, you would still be taking a chance if you spent the money.)

2) You intend to invest the tax "saved" for many years so you are covered in the event of having to pay it back (+interest)

3) You intend to bugger off abroad, somewhere HMRC's tentacles can't reach, and never come back

When I joined the Montpelier scheme in 2001, (1) seemed a certainty. However, with all the insurance, contract review services available now, it seems a lot easier to circumvent it.

I took option (2) to cover my backside.

I know a few people who have gone down route (3).