Edge EBT thread

[whatabadidea]

EDGE/HMRC complete shock - I'm keen to band together

Just had my two letters together 2009/10 & 2011 I am definitely interested in group engagement be it legal representation or otherwise, please could ADMIN grant me PM rights.

I would like to link up with people in the same boat, I'm in the very same position myself with previously working via EDGE.

Can anyone explain what happens now re joining the forum, once PM rights have been granted will someone message or is everything to be found on the open forum? A newbie to forums not really needed to join one before hence the question - thank you!

[fil2013]

Happy to join the group and support in numbers......

The Dandy was looking at group representation in April/May, so I will let him/her communicate any information on that front.

[“Your Name”][/I]

Hi All,

I also followed the instructions from Edge / Forum last year and was shocked to receive another letter in resent days, I would like to understand our position further and make a decision based upon support from the group. Initially I would ask:-

What can we do to help the situation?

What are the ultimate consequences if we have to re-pay?

Can we reclaim the initial outlay from Edge? What would it involve?

How can I join the PM forum?

Warmest regards, Phil

<admin note>PM is just the private messaging system. New users don't have access to it by default as it was getting abused by spammers. I have now granted you access.</admin note>

[wing73]

Help in Numbers

likeiwse got my letters and would appreciate being part of the group. PM rights please?

<admin note>PM rights granted</admin note>

[Montyb]

EDGE HMRC Letter

Hi guys, please add me to the numbers, I had a very unexpected letter from the HMRC this morning......

[Another EBT Contractor]

Hi everyone,

I was also an Edge employee and went through the appeal procedure for the 2008/2009 demands last year. This afternoon, I received the demand for 2009/2010. While I understand it's HMRC trying to stake their claim before limitations kick in and that tax is lost to them, it's not more reassuring for that.

I've been given PM right and have contacted TheDandy.

In the meantime, which version of the appeal did you go for? The short and sweet version Michelle recently recommended to those appealing a second time, or the longer version quoted before? I'd like to have it in the post tomorrow.

For reference, the idea is that, for those of us who are appealing for the second time, there is no need to go in as much detail and the following would suffice:

“Thank you for your recent correspondence, I do not agree with your assessment and therefore wish to appeal this decision. Please postpone collection of this tax demand”

I wonder if the more detailed reply makes any difference.

Many thanks in advance for your advice.

[Montyb]

Please count me in, should we need to go down this route ,

Thanks

Hi All,

I have been in contact with a reputable tax adviser and barrister who specialises in this area. As we are probably all aware this is very early days and it has been said numerous times on this forum that good independent advise is a must. It goes without saying that good advice doesn't come cheap, and should any litigation be required then the costs can quickly mount up (let's hope that's not required).

A number of people have intimated clearly that they would be inclined to join a group, and this appears a sensible approach to take and certainly worthy of investigation as to how this would work in practice.

The adviser has outlined how such a group undertaking would normally be managed, and provided indicative costs and timescales for all potential stages (including worse case scenarios).

The next step is to gauge genuine interest in forming a group.

There ideally needs to be a minimum of 25 to 30 people to even consider getting past the first post. Clearly the more people the better. If you are interested then I would be grateful if you can send me a PM. I will gauge interest over the next 4 weeks. If the numbers are not met then I won't pursue it any further and will notify respondents. If there is genuine interest then I'll move things forward in a more structured way.

There is no commitment at this point other than expressing an interest. We have to start somewhere!

Like everyone else I am very busy and organising this isn't my core way of making a living. So I must emphasise I would just like to get initial interest. I am sure you will want to ask questions at this point but it is just not feasible at this stage to start replying in detail to individuals. If there is sufficient traction I'll correspond on a group basis in order to minimise my admin time. I hope you understand.

Best of luck however you handle things.

[kmpm]

I am interested to learn more. I doubt that direct action is necessary until HMRC start responding to appeals etc.

Would be good to have an opinion then and understand if we should be forming up to fight the good fight.

[bstar1]

joining the party

Got the 2010 as expected , luckily its half of 2009 cos I left edge mid 2009 ....hopefully that's the last of the invitations.

Lets roll the dice. Very small percentage this will get written off very high percentage we will all be paying up with intrest.

Life hey..

[sunset2710]

New to this ..... but would like to join in please

Hi there

I believe I'm in the same boat as most of you and would like to join. I've never joined a forum before but think we definitely need to share our experiences and work together to fight this. Please could ADMIN grant me PM rights. If anyone can advise which appeal letter to send, I'd appreciate it. Thanks.

Please could someone let me know whether legal representation has been engaged and whether I can part of the group being represented? Also - how will I know if PM access has been granted? Sorry for all the questions but I'm concerned having received two letters from HMRC and would like to follow the appropriate courses of action. Many thanks.

[whatabadidea]

Advice from a tax specialist

Hello All I have also had a tax specialist look into this and his advice was that initially when Edge engaged us as employees then they would have had the scheme signed-off as OK and legitimate by some senior Barrister somewhere and finding out who this was is a key step so does anyone already know this information? I tried to find out by contacting the lady at Redstone who is still apparently taking Edge related calls but who has not actually returned any of mine even though I have been 'put on the list' a few times now. If you do have information on this can you please PM me so I can continue my digging into this side of things with my contact.

He also strongly advised that if enough of us from this forum were able to band together to pay for a professional top notch legal/tax professional preliminary representation (as TheDandy has suggested) which I am advised starts at about £7k so hence needing 30+ people it would be better to get this underway rather than waiting and constantly accruing extra interest whilst we wait to 'see' what happens next. If nothing happens then fine however how long do we wait? Having this hanging over my head for years to come whilst trying to keep up with constantly saving the interest doesn’t seem like a great option so I personally would much rather pay a small portion of a large fee to get confirmation that our scheme does not fit under the tax avoidance allegations HMRC are making and as I believe to be the case. I have PM’d TheDandy to let them know I am keen to get something underway so I hope there are enough of us here that are also willing to do the same to perhaps shut HMRC up on this topic and close it off for us at least once and for all or if not at least we have an indication of the next step.