Originally posted by Squicker
It’s not Montpelier who is at fault here – as far as I can tell they have done everything they promised to do. Whether the scheme was regulated or not is not relevant.
It was a tax avoidance scheme, the very fact the Montpelier told everyone the expected lifetime tells you that it was going to be closed down at some point, and investigation is part of the closedown process.
I suppose it is easier to blame Montpelier – but the villains are HMRC. Montpelier did not promise to take the case beyond the House of Lords, but they have now committed to taking it to Europe if necessary. Doesn’t that show good faith to you?
I don’t think it is sensible for anyone in the scheme to attack Montpelier – frankly, they are who stands between you and the full untamed power of HMRC. Why shoot yourself in the foot?
Let’s be clear, HMRC found that the scheme worked and asked Parliament for retrospective legislation and justified it on a lie. That’s wrong.
Have you read the court judgement from the High Court? Pay attention to the written evidence from HMRC/HMT – in there you will find that HMRC believed that the scheme worked. They only changed their mind on this immediately prior to s.58. Compare the date of that change of view to the date you received the letter telling you that they were going to take test cases to the commissioners. Were HMRC going to take the case to the commissioners knowing that they could only lose, or were they practicing entrapment?
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