HMRC enquiries for EBT schemes through SANZAR

[andyc2000]

Appeals apparently are being processed in date order of receipt. It seems the backlog is about 5 weeks - so not sure what will happen as this will go past the deadline to get the appeal in. Anyone have any ideas - presumably they backdate the appeal accordingly?

[MrO666]

Appeals apparently are being processed in date order of receipt. It seems the backlog is about 5 weeks - so not sure what will happen as this will go past the deadline to get the appeal in. Anyone have any ideas - presumably they backdate the appeal accordingly?

Which appeals are you referring to ?

Any appeal you put in just send it via Special delivery, that way you can prove it was received before any deadline.

[andyc2000]

Which appeals are you referring to ?

Any appeal you put in just send it via Special delivery, that way you can prove it was received before any deadline.

The point I'm trying to make is that even though the appeal is sitting in HMRCs in tray it won't get processed until after the deadline so it looks like your account is overdue...

[nubie]

Repay your loans

Make early repayment of the Loans , as per the loan agreements, early repayment is allowed. So if you repay the loans at an amount each month then how can the HMRC claim these are not Loans thus being taxable. I always knew these were Loans and repayable as stated in the Loan Agreements. Sanzar was not an EBT!

[MrO666]

Sorry about the length of this post, however I'm trying to make sense of the process.

They way I understand the process is as follows, can anybody confirm whether this is correct ?

1) Individual receives discovery assessment from HMRC relating to a specific tax year.

2) Individual either pays or appeals the assessment.

3) If the individual pays the assessment in full, then HMRC close that assessment and the matter is finalised.

4) If the individual appeals, then HMRC can either accept or decline the appeal. If they accept, then the full balance deemed outstanding by HMRC is suspended on appeal......although still attracts interest.

5) Nothing further happens until HMRC formally respond to the appeal, either asking for more information or by cancelling the assessment.

6) If HMRC ask for further information then protracted correspondence begin between the individual and HMRC. The onus is on the individual to prove that the scheme in use was valid and a legal form of tax planning.

7) Eventually HMRC either accept that the assessment is invalid and cancel it, or maintain it's valid and the money is owed.

8) The individual either then has the choice of paying the assessment and bringing the matter to a close (maybe with some negotiation on actual figures), or informs HMRC that they will go to tribunal and dispute.

9) If it reaches tribunal, either the individual wins and HMRC cancel the assessment, or HMRC win and issue a closure notice and the individual has to pay in full.


In general am I missing anything here ?



Also, The Certificate Of Tax Deposit Scheme.

Am I correct in thinking that if an individual received a tax assessment for £10k, but then the placed £10k in the tax deposit scheme and told HMRC that is was to be held against the specific assessment, then any interest on the outstanding £10k assessment from that point forward would be stopped ?

Thanks all

[convict]

^
sounds about right. Obviously you have FTT then UTT and then standard court process.

[MrO666]

^
sounds about right. Obviously you have FTT then UTT and then standard court process.

And what about the tax deposit scheme.......is my assumption there correct too, but by lodging money with HMRC to the value of an assessment, then you are in fact stopping any further interest from being accrued ?

[DonkeyRhubarb]

And what about the tax deposit scheme.......is my assumption there correct too, but by lodging money with HMRC to the value of an assessment, then you are in fact stopping any further interest from being accrued ?

Yes but you don't need to tell them what the CTD is for when you take it out.

I don't think (6) will happen for the vast majority of people. There's no way HMRC could, or would even want to, start a ping pong letter exchange with several thousand individuals. They will pick out a handful of people to take forward as representative test/lead cases. If it ever gets to tribunal then they will probably ask everyone else if they will agree to be bound by the outcome.

One tactic they may employ, if they win a vaguely related tribunal case (eg. Rangers appeal), is to write to everyone claiming this ruling applies to their appeals and they should therefore settle.

The name of the game over the coming months/years will be to try and persuade as many people as possible to settle voluntarily.

[MrO666]

Yes but you don't need to tell them what the CTD is for when you take it out.

Ok, so purely by having money in CTD's with HMRC, that's enough to stop you potentially accruing any interest on a debt of the same value...correct ?

A bit like an offset mortgage really.

[DonkeyRhubarb]

Ok, so purely by having money in CTD's with HMRC, that's enough to stop you potentially accruing any interest on a debt of the same value...correct ?

A bit like an offset mortgage really.

Correct.

Note that the interest is simple, not compound (no interest on interest).

Example

Say you currently owe £100k in tax/nic, and have already accrued £10k in interest to date. (Total debt £110k) HMRC currently charge 3%. In a year's time the total debt will have grown to £113k (not £113,300) A CTD for £100k would stop all further interest accruing.

If you can offset your mortgage, or earn 3% net on savings/investments, then this may be a better option. If you have a CTD and cash it in, because you didn't have to pay a tax bill, then it returns very little (if any) interest.

A CTD is only a reasonable option if you believe you will ultimately have to cough up.