HMRC enquiry letter for Winchester IQ Contract under section 9a

[webberg]

I was with IQ from April 2012 to September 2015.

I have now been asked by HMRC for SA's for years 2012/13, 2013/14 & 2014/15.

According to CHS, the schemes I was in was DOTAS for only the year 2013/14. My understanding is that this will be the only year I will receive an APN for.

Can anyone advise if this is correct?

Thanks in advance.

The IQ schemes over the years appear to share some common features but some were disclosed and some not.

Many of us are arguing that a scheme that is notified under DOTAS, may not be actually notifiable and as such an APN may not be appropriate or valid.

That is a two way street.

Although I've not heard on HMRC raising an APN where the scheme was not actually notified, the argument above could be reversible?

[needmorstuff]

The IQ schemes over the years appear to share some common features but some were disclosed and some not.

Many of us are arguing that a scheme that is notified under DOTAS, may not be actually notifiable and as such an APN may not be appropriate or valid.

That is a two way street.

Although I've not heard on HMRC raising an APN where the scheme was not actually notified, the argument above could be reversible?

there seem to be clear rules for APN's - never heard this one before.

[webberg]

there seem to be clear rules for APN's - never heard this one before.

There are three conditions plus rules about content of the notice.

One of the conditions (C) requires that the tax advantage arises in respect of a scheme that is "notifiable" under the DOTAS legislation.

Many promoters registered their offerings under DOTAS because failing to do so risked a large fine.

Later (around 2011) many promoters did not register their wares under DOTAS. I won't speculate as to all the reasons for this but I suggest that as later iterations of the rules included a waterfall of who was liable to register a scheme and users appeared on that list, perhaps they felt that they could risk the fine, because it might fall on another party?

Anyway, to be notifiable, a scheme needs to have met certain "hallmarks" and not to be exempt under the rules. As was proven when HMRC withdrew several thousand APNs, some schemes were notified but were later found not to be notifiable.

So the rules are simple (the APN scheme is designed to extract money) but that simplicity means that each word used has to be given due weight.

[Reider]

Thanks for the responses. It really helps to know that there are a lot of good people out there happy to share their knowledge.

I am in the process of joining the Big Group. The more we come together the stronger we become.

[DotasScandal]

On the above, also see this
Looking forward to seeing you in BG.

[pegzyisdeed]

what should I do

Hi Everyone, first post on this forum.

I've been contracting through IQ for just under a year and I'm now about to start a new contract where Id planned to keep using them. I'm obviously alarmed at this thread and others which I've seen on here.

I've not received any letter from HMRC as yet, should I be worried? Is it just a matter of time? I now feel rather silly and naïve as the set up was far too good to be true.

Would It be advisable to just sever all ties completely with them now as it appears HMRC are out to get them.

Any advice would be welcome.

[carling]

Hi Everyone, first post on this forum.

I've been contracting through IQ for just under a year and I'm now about to start a new contract where Id planned to keep using them. I'm obviously alarmed at this thread and others which I've seen on here.

I've not received any letter from HMRC as yet, should I be worried? Is it just a matter of time? I now feel rather silly and naïve as the set up was far too good to be true.

Would It be advisable to just sever all ties completely with them now as it appears HMRC are out to get them.

Any advice would be welcome.

Get out of any contractor scheme immediately.
You will almost certainly be getting some brown envelopes from HMRC at some point.
Switch to a genuine bog standard umbrella or go Ltd, anything else is just not worth the years of aggro it will create.

[DonkeyRhubarb]

Get out of any contractor scheme immediately.
You will almost certainly be getting some brown envelopes from HMRC at some point.
Switch to a genuine bog standard umbrella or go Ltd, anything else is just not worth the years of aggro it will create.

WHS

If it's a loan scheme, where you get "paid" in loans, then you will also have the new 2019 HMRC loan tax charge to contend with.

It would also be totally negligent of this company to carry on running the scheme when users are more than likely to be hit by the charge. They are potentially leading people into financial ruin, not that they probably give a stuff mind you.

It makes me sick that companies are still operating these schemes. In the current climate, they are nothing but a scam.

[DotasScandal]

+1 to all of the above.

Run away NOW and do not look back.

[pegzyisdeed]

thanks for the reply, I was previously with a LTD set up however a colleague of mine put me onto IQ because it was such an easy set up. I'm feeling rather silly now as things that often seem too good to be true are often just that. I've heard a lot of people on here talking about the letters, however I've not read of someone being taken to court and being charged. I'd assume this must all take time.

So from these responses you all think I should stop billing via the Umbrella which is attached to IQ and go back down the LTD route?