Hmrc disguised remuneration loans information required!

[Fred Bloggs]

Hi all,

First time poster here, and hijacking this post as its been pretty useful. Hoping for a bit of direct guidance here from you knowledgable people....

I was a contractor in the oil and gas industrtu from 2013 until 2021. Started off on a nice little rate and as the price of oil decreased, things went a bit south - rates decreased etc.

At the same time I was a bit niave on my tax obligations and wasnt putting money aside at the time, culminating in a struggle to repay tax each year and effectively living hand to mouth despite still earning some decent wage. I stopped contracting and am trying to close the company out now - i am due a rebate of £8,500 for self assessment paid to date, but also have a corp tax bill of 12500 as well as accounts fees etc taking things to £16000. So with my savings and the rebate i can just about get by on my liabilities. I do however have no spare income, and house prices have crashed so cant even sell in order to get some money to start again.

Here's where i am going with this....

In 2014 i signed up to Bedouin knowing it was a tax efficiency scheme, but not realising it was classed as avoidance as there was no rulings at the time to suggest it was unlawful, and i convinced myself at the time they wouldnt be able to RETROSEPCTIVELY enforce any changes!!) How unethical is that?
I digress... i continued for a few months before I wised up and realised the implcations - i think i used them for 4 or 5 months which could equal roughly £75,000 gross.

I have had a letter last year and the same again this year stating that they suspect i was part of tax avoidance and to call them. Today i have given them a call and they asked me to send in bank statements from 2014 to calculate the tax liability - which i have now requested from the bank.

From what i am reading here it sounds like they dont generally go back past 4 years? Any advice on how to proceed? I dont want to bury my head in the sand but i also have no money to pay for any liabilities now which i suppose would be around £26k + fees + interest?

**gulp**

You didn't specifically say, but it's HMRC who have been writing to you? HMRC can go back beyond 4 years in certain circumstances. As usual the devil is in the detail. Since you're broke, you're going to have to ask for a payment plan. I doubt there's any prospect of not paying the tax you avoided plus penalties. It's a case of doing the best you can.

[Jumper]

I think that the loan charge will apply in this case. Is the 75k the equivalent of what you received in loans or your combined income (assuming you were paid a small salary and the rest loans?)

I would look at your income in the tax year 18/19 as the way the loan charge would apply is adding your income from loans back from 2014 to the tax year 18/19. Resulting in 40 or 45% tax being applied in most cases.

[taxed]

Hi all apologies for the silence, I had some personal issues to contend with. The name of the umbrella is charteris and belive it or not they're still in operation. They did get back to me eventually, after 4 emails and they simply advised me to look for a tax adviser. I have until mid November to get back to hmrc with the information they want and I have been in touch with them to advise I will do all I can, to provide the information they require. So now where do I start as no help from the umbrella.

[cojak]

Hi all apologies for the silence, I had some personal issues to contend with. The name of the umbrella is charteris and belive it or not they're still in operation. They did get back to me eventually, after 4 emails and they simply advised me to look for a tax adviser. I have until mid November to get back to hmrc with the information they want and I have been in touch with them to advise I will do all I can, to provide the information they require. So now where do I start as no help from the umbrella.

Now that name rings a VERY loud bell.

(We have long memories…)

Be aware that this company will contact you and try to get you to remove this thread.

But as for what to do now, go back to the start of this thread and reread all the replies. They are still applicable.

[eek]

Hi all apologies for the silence, I had some personal issues to contend with. The name of the umbrella is charteris and belive it or not they're still in operation. They did get back to me eventually, after 4 emails and they simply advised me to look for a tax adviser. I have until mid November to get back to hmrc with the information they want and I have been in touch with them to advise I will do all I can, to provide the information they require. So now where do I start as no help from the umbrella.

Greg recommended speaking to Gilbert Tax so my advice would be to go and arrange a meeting with them. You could also speak to WTT but as my advice would be to try and settle things Gilbert may be a better (and cheaper) starting point.

Sadly there really isn't much more you can do as HMRC have the right to go back and ask for the correct amount of tax on anything from April 6th 2018 onwards (anything before that is more difficult for HMRC but may still be possible depend on what happened).

[suitcase]

nvm

[cojak]

Hi all apologies for the silence, I had some personal issues to contend with. The name of the umbrella is charteris and belive it or not they're still in operation. They did get back to me eventually, after 4 emails and they simply advised me to look for a tax adviser. I have until mid November to get back to hmrc with the information they want and I have been in touch with them to advise I will do all I can, to provide the information they require. So now where do I start as no help from the umbrella.

Well, well well - waddaya know…

Charteris Management is now on HMRC’s wall of shame…

[Sher42]

Hi, I am in the process of writing my loans off for open enquiries and have settled income tax and IHT with HMRC for open years. More than happy to share my experience and provide advice to anyone who is going through this process. I have been going through this for 13 years. I have a good tax adviser who is legit and has given good advice too (there is a cottage industry and good advice is hard to find unless you want to spend a fortune)

Also, a question to the forum: Does anyone know who the Loan trustees were that Bedouin Management Limited used? I need to know to get loans written off.

[GregRickshaw]

There is someone who posts as Bedouin Loans maybe ask them?

Could be a camping reference username though.

[cojak]

Don’t pay them, there’ll be no benefit to you. Use it to pay a proper tax specialist or HMRC.