Trust help line email help!

[Dozy Bastard]

Writing off the loan is a taxable event.

You are now liable to tax on that 95%.

That will count as 2018/19 income.

This fact is mentioned by THL in their flyers.

Yeah, thanks for that. That's how I interpreted it too. The way I see it, HMRC are going to get their tax one way or the other and nothing I can do now is going to make any difference, so I've stopped worrying about the tax position and accepted it. Income tax is due whatever I do, it's just a question of under which set of rules.

The tax due in 2018/19 because of the write off (section 554C ITEPA 2003) may - or may not - be a credit against tax due on the settlement which is for earlier years than 2018/19. I confess to having studied this a while and I'm still not clear that 554C tax paid will be a credit against those earlier years.

I'm struggling to believe that even HMRC would try to tax the same income twice.

I'm more worried about the loans themselves rather than the tax position. In paying for these deeds, I can't believe the trustees are literally going to steal my money. I'm confident I know who I'm dealing with and they have a much bigger business than just this tax avoidance mess. I read the drafts of the deeds and it's clear they give finality to the situation. The trustees (if that's truly the right word) won't be able to claim repayment after I have them back signed. So, much as I've come to accept HMRC will get their slice, I also accept that these 'trustees' are going to get theirs.

It was a stupid thing that I did when I joined the scheme (the clue is in my name). I feel confident that getting out now is altogether more sensible.

[Safe]

Writing off the loan is a taxable event.

You are now liable to tax on that 95%.

That will count as 2018/19 income.

This fact is mentioned by THL in their flyers.

The tax due in 2018/19 because of the write off (section 554C ITEPA 2003) may - or may not - be a credit against tax due on the settlement which is for earlier years than 2018/19.

I confess to having studied this a while and I'm still not clear that 554C tax paid will be a credit against those earlier years.

I will try to finish my studies and post my conclusions soon, but by paying this tax, you may have rendered settlement pointless.

Even if I settled with HMRC under CLSO1 several years ago, do I still need to pay tax providing I write off the loans? Similarly, if I settled under CLSO2 several months ago in 2018, Do I still need to pay tax? Please note that when I settled with HMRC I settled with 100% of the loans not 95%. So what is going to happen to the 5%?

[Dozy Bastard]

Well ... the harassment continues ..i just received this email from THL ... Basically they now want 10% instead of 5.

Heh, no way. I don't know if I did the right thing in paying them but if I did then my timing was good.

Any thoughts/suggestions on how to respond? I definitely do not want to pay these scammers!

I guess you see it differently, but aren't you worried that if the amount can go from 5% to 10%, it can eventually go to 100%? And that they might be prepared to take it all the way to court?

I haven't got the message you copied, presumably because I've already sent my deeds and my payment. Now I'm not sure about this but... it seems to me that if you send that email to the IOM company and ask for your deeds, the price is fixed at that point?

From your message: "The change will take effect for deeds prepared after 1st March 2019."

Now, they do send you an invoice when you ask for the drafts, but if you're not worried about repaying the loans then I guess you wouldn't be worried about getting billed the £250 fee, either. So you wouldn't be in any worse position if you got the drafts, even if you eventually decided not to pay, but you would have locked into the 5%. Just a thought.

Re the idea of asking them to delete your data... isn't this a bit like asking Barclays to delete your mortgage? I doubt either these 'trustees' or Barclays would comply.

Just to stress I haven't actually got my signed deeds back yet so do take it all with a pinch of salt.

[Coresme2]

Heh, no way. I don't know if I did the right thing in paying them but if I did then my timing was good.


I guess you see it differently, but aren't you worried that if the amount can go from 5% to 10%, it can eventually go to 100%? And that they might be prepared to take it all the way to court?

I haven't got the message you copied, presumably because I've already sent my deeds and my payment. Now I'm not sure about this but... it seems to me that if you send that email to the IOM company and ask for your deeds, the price is fixed at that point?

From your message: "The change will take effect for deeds prepared after 1st March 2019."

Now, they do send you an invoice when you ask for the drafts, but if you're not worried about repaying the loans then I guess you wouldn't be worried about getting billed the £250 fee, either. So you wouldn't be in any worse position if you got the drafts, even if you eventually decided not to pay, but you would have locked into the 5%. Just a thought.

Re the idea of asking them to delete your data... isn't this a bit like asking Barclays to delete your mortgage? I doubt either these 'trustees' or Barclays would comply.

Just to stress I haven't actually got my signed deeds back yet so do take it all with a pinch of salt.

The whole situation sounds so dodgy and my Financial adviser has said as much. He had a loan as well and received his deed of settlement for *free*, his argument being that I was paid for 95% of the loans back in the day with the 5% held back as operating expenses, so he didn't owe them anything. I regret sending them a, now out of date passport, to use as ID, they do sound like scammers. I'd be happier if I could have this data expunged under GDPR laws. I do not intent to settle loans which were never intended to be paid back, especially not through this shady company THL.

[Dmac]

GDPR - The Right to Erasure

Check the link below from the Information Commissioners Office. The relevant link from the menu is the "right to erasure" where an individual can demand erasure of all of their personal details from a company.

Right to erasure | ICO

Clearly, in the case of a bank, you cannot do this if you want to remain a customer.

[agileSean]

SNAP!

Well ... the harassment continues ..i just received this email from THL ... Basically they now want 10% instead of 5.
*********

We've previously written to you with an offer from your trustees to write off 95% of your loans.

Most of those who received the offer have taken it up. One consequence of this is that there are now fewer people with loans outstanding. The trustees took a decision yesterday that, in order for the trusts to remain viable, the amounts written off would have to reduce from 95% to 90%. This means that for those who still have outstanding loans, the amount that needs to be repaid will increase from 5% to 10%.

As at yesterday, you were one of those who were yet to respond and are therefore affected by the decision. If you sent in your request for the deeds today, don't worry - you'll still get 95% written off.

The change will take effect for deeds prepared after 1st March 2019. That means that even if you've not yet sent in your request, provided you act now, you can still take full advantage of the opportunity to have 95% of your loans written off.

If you want to be included, please make sure you've read the offer document attached, then send an email (or forward this one) to [email protected], quoting reference XXXXXXXXXX. DOR Resolutions Limited is an Isle of Man company run by representatives of Baker Tilly, an international accounting firm. They will manage your request for the deeds.

DOR Resolutions is very busy with requests due to the pressure HMRC has placed on taxpayers to settle. If you act now, not only will you benefit from the best terms, but you will have the best chance that your deeds will be returned promptly.

Yours sincerely,
Trust Help Line
****************************

Received exactly the same email at 15:00 today. Can I ask which Trustees did you sign up with? I used Winchester.

Just curious as to whether your Trustees and my Trustees both coincidentally decided to up the ante from 5% to 10%, at the same time or is it indeed the same Trust - Winchester (who are dissolved by the way).

Is it possible that THL can be representing Trustees who have been dissolved? Is that a valid scenario? Doesn't make much sense to me, unless you're just trying your luck to get a few people to send a few quids in

Winchester (UK) Limited were dissolved on 28/08/2018 as per WINCHESTER (UK) LIMITED - Overview (free company information from Companies House)

Any thoughts/suggestions on how to respond? I definitely do not want to pay these scammers!

I'm getting some advice on Thursday afternoon, will share what I can on this forum.

[Coresme2]

I used IQ Contracts, but they sound like the same beast with different names.

[webberg]

I'm struggling to believe that even HMRC would try to tax the same income twice.

.

You're much more confident than I am even discounting the 40+ years I've spent in tax.

[Dozy Bastard]

You're much more confident than I am even discounting the 40+ years I've spent in tax.

LOL!

I suppose it will be interesting times if they do try to tax the same income twice. I don't think I'll be quite so philosphical about it as I'm being presently. Pitchforks and torches spring to mind.

[webberg]

If you trace the correspondence from THL backwards, you will see that they claim to be deal with "brands" that include Darwin, Eximius, Tudor Pay, Sanzar, Garraway, IQ, Winchster, Long Acre, Dynamic and I think one other (I have no time right now to check).

The letters they send to victims of the above schemes are all the same apart from the name.

Going back even further, most of the above schemes can be traced to two trustee services companies owned and controlled by Baker Tilly in the IOM.

The above is all public record and 10 minutes research would reveal it.