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HMRC Enquiry letters on Loans from EBT and other schemes
I've received letters and calls from HMRC after issue of APN.
I originally appealed the demand, but they have just steamrolled on and issued the APN. I have been advised that since the issue of the APN, there is no longer any ability to appeal. I don't have the money to pay, and probably justifiably angry at both DarwinPay, who have stepped out of the way, and with HMRC with their retrospective demand. It is my understanding (though that probably won't hold up in court) that this was 100% HMRC compliant for the duration of my use of the scheme.
I've received letters and calls from HMRC after issue of APN.
First of all do the standard thing when dealing with an organisation that calls you claiming you owe them money:
1. If their number appears on the phone don't answer and instruct those in your household not to say you are not in if they call,
2. If they don't leave a number then block or don't answer all calls from unknown callers.
If you don't have that service on your landline and they are calling your landline then get caller id and blocking unknown numbers proto. (If they are calling your mobile then there are apps that you can download free to do this.) Yes it costs but you need to force organisations who claim you owe them money to correspond with you in writing. Why?
That way you don't incriminate yourself by saying something. The majority of organisations record their calls and will use them against you if it suits them, however if it doesn't suit them the recording will be "lost".
Can't help you with the letters but at least if they correspond with you in writing you have some time before responding to them.
"You’re just a bad memory who doesn’t know when to go away" JR
I've received letters and calls from HMRC after issue of APN.
I originally appealed the demand, but they have just steamrolled on and issued the APN. I have been advised that since the issue of the APN, there is no longer any ability to appeal. I don't have the money to pay, and probably justifiably angry at both DarwinPay, who have stepped out of the way, and with HMRC with their retrospective demand. It is my understanding (though that probably won't hold up in court) that this was 100% HMRC compliant for the duration of my use of the scheme.
Where to now, apart from total panic?
If they have not answered all you points in the APN appeal then you must repsond and appeal again....people on Big Group forum are going through this too.
If they have not answered all you points in the APN appeal then you must repsond and appeal again....people on Big Group forum are going through this too.
To continue my story, I logged in to the SA portal today to find that, because they had randomly applied this new assessment for a year I did not receive any loans in just before the end of the SA deadline, the payment I sent for my SA bill (which I *do* agree I owe!) was applied to the oldest "debt" first, meaning that the amount outstanding on the assessment has gone down, but my SA bill for 2014/15 is now classed as overdue and liable for interest and penalties.
All because they didn't have time to read the letter I sent them four months ago. In fact, all because they *chose* to re-allocate the people who were meant to read the letter to other tasks.
No wonder they never give you their names on the letters!
To continue my story, I logged in to the SA portal today to find that, because they had randomly applied this new assessment for a year I did not receive any loans in just before the end of the SA deadline, the payment I sent for my SA bill (which I *do* agree I owe!) was applied to the oldest "debt" first, meaning that the amount outstanding on the assessment has gone down, but my SA bill for 2014/15 is now classed as overdue and liable for interest and penalties.
All because they didn't have time to read the letter I sent them four months ago. In fact, all because they *chose* to re-allocate the people who were meant to read the letter to other tasks.
No wonder they never give you their names on the letters!
EBT's were legal. They are enshrined and protected by years of law and the opinion of the most knowledgable lawyers in the field of tax know that HMRC will not win this. HMRC know they will not win this which is why APN is just part of a campaign to put off people using tax efficient structures.
To date HMRC have not won 1 case against properly managed EBTs. They have not sent the bailiffs to collect ant APN's that have not been paid, they have not enforced payment through the courts, they have not taken any 1 individual to court over the use of an EBT. Even with the outcome of the latest round of Rangers and Murray Holdings, it is still very clear that they are not gaining any traction in this area. Its even been reported that when asked how much it has cost them so far to take Rangers to court they responded saying that it would cost to much to do the work to figure out how much it has cost. This is a huge embarrassment for them given that if they ever did win (they will not), there is no money for them to recoup. Arguable the outcome of this will be for HMRC to compensate Murray for the millions lost when it went into administration.
Appeal everything. Deny you did anything wrong. Do not be railroaded into given any money that you'll never see again. HMRC are wrong, we are right and the law is on our side.
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