Poll: settling or paying the LC/fighting?

[stonehenge]

Just out of interest, what are people doing?

[webberg]

Option 2 risks the worst of all worlds.

[stonehenge]

Option 2 risks the worst of all worlds.

That is very dramatic.

What's the worst that can happen then?

[starstruck]

Option 2 risks the worst of all worlds.

If you have only closed years and can mitigate, e.g. with pension contributions or something similar, I don't think it is that bad an option. I think you mostly work on the assumption that people have open years.

[BrilloPad]

Very poor AndyW option.

[stonehenge]

If you have only closed years and can mitigate, e.g. with pension contributions or something similar, I don't think it is that bad an option. I think you mostly work on the assumption that people have open years.

Many people have had open enquiries for many years, even a decade or more. Did HMRC ever do anything proactive in all that time?

And now we're meant to believe that, after collecting the LC, they are suddenly going to develop a sense of urgency to progress those enquiries to a conclusion. Bollox if you ask me.

[webberg]

Make no mistake here, HMRC are obliged by law to close enquiries in a manner compatible with the law.

They do NOT have an option to say "we've got the LC why should we bother more".

The LC is not an alternative to settlement or agreement.

It's an interim charge that seeks to achieve many things - said and unsaid - but ultimately HMRC has to obey the law.

If you choose to pay the LC and then do nothing, sooner or later a case will be taken and the result will apply to your circumstances and will be applied. You may have paid enough loan charge to cover the tax. You may have paid too much, in which case you'll lose the excess. The interest charges on the original liability grow every day.

Paying the loan charge and waiting is - in my opinion - the worst of all worlds.

[starstruck]

Make no mistake here, HMRC are obliged by law to close enquiries in a manner compatible with the law.

They do NOT have an option to say "we've got the LC why should we bother more".

The LC is not an alternative to settlement or agreement.

It's an interim charge that seeks to achieve many things - said and unsaid - but ultimately HMRC has to obey the law.

If you choose to pay the LC and then do nothing, sooner or later a case will be taken and the result will apply to your circumstances and will be applied. You may have paid enough loan charge to cover the tax. You may have paid too much, in which case you'll lose the excess. The interest charges on the original liability grow every day.

Paying the loan charge and waiting is - in my opinion - the worst of all worlds.

What if all your years are closed? Can a future case be applied to those years?

[dammit chloe]

Paying the loan charge and waiting is - in my opinion - the worst of all worlds.

I agree with this bit.

I do wonder whether any of the longstanding open enquiries would ever be addressed though. If they haven't thus far will they ever get round to it. I know they can if they want to I am talking about the reality of trying to do it now.

I suspect that post-2011 schemes have a higher chance of being targetted. I have my doubts about earlier ones due to the risk/effort/reward not stacking up because, as you say, they will be forced to go through the proper legal process.

[webberg]

What if all your years are closed? Can a future case be applied to those years?

No.

If you are in the very fortunate situation that all your years are closed, then a decision in a future case cannot apply.

In this situation, the issue you have is the loan charge.