HMRC tactics and data protection laws

[cj90210]

From gov.uk:

Under the Data Protection Act 2018, you have the right to find out what information the government and other organisations store about you. These include the right to:

be informed about how your data is being used
access personal data
have incorrect data updated
have data erased
stop or restrict the processing of your data
data portability (allowing you to get and reuse your data for different services)
object to how your data is processed in certain circumstances

You also have rights when an organisation is using your personal data for:

automated decision-making processes (without human involvement)
profiling, for example to predict your behaviour or interests


HMRC have written to me regarding the LC. Although they have not given any specifics, the claim dates back to over a decade. I have no records and neither is there any law that requires me to keep records going back that far. Clearly HMRC has some information on me. The law says HMRC needs to share any information it has on me with me. In reality, will they do so if I ask? What a reasonable time frame be? And what else do I need to do to get it?

[GammaMadrid]

You could use GDPR to ask them - there are threads on here about that.

However, have you ever used any sort of scheme, loan or otherwise? Even if they know nothing about it now, they may find out later. You want to take that chance?

What scheme were you in and which years?

[webberg]

You could use GDPR to ask them - there are threads on here about that.

However, have you ever used any sort of scheme, loan or otherwise? Even if they know nothing about it now, they may find out later. You want to take that chance?

What scheme were you in and which years?

We hear this defence a lot.

"HMRC don't know about me and therefore if I contact them I will be in their radar. Therefore I'll say nothing and they might forget me".

As a defence it's fatally flawed.

The loan charge comes with a raft of disclosure obligations that ultimately are YOURS.

It is not for HMRC to find you and raise a charge. You have a legal obligation to disclose and if you do not, you face some significant penalties.

Choosing to deliberately evade your legal obligations is of course your choice, but be aware of the consequences.

[GammaMadrid]

We hear this defence a lot.

"HMRC don't know about me and therefore if I contact them I will be in their radar. Therefore I'll say nothing and they might forget me".

As a defence it's fatally flawed.

The loan charge comes with a raft of disclosure obligations that ultimately are YOURS.

It is not for HMRC to find you and raise a charge. You have a legal obligation to disclose and if you do not, you face some significant penalties.

Choosing to deliberately evade your legal obligations is of course your choice, but be aware of the consequences.

You are saying what I was thinking!

Sadly, whenever this advice is given, the Original Poster(what those at CUK call the OP) says something along the lines of "how dare you suggest I would mislead HMRC in any way". They only want to hear "yes - its fine - you are safe".

I can only echo the call to be open and honest. There was a poster a while ago here who got a COP9. Not a good place to be.

There are professional people who post here who can help the OP. Webberg is highly recommended. So is Phil.

[RickG]

I can't disagree with the advice given above and certainly wouldn't expect a professional advisor to advise differently. However, as way of an example, there's a well known "scheme" (and I use that phrase VERY loosely) devised by somebody with the forum name spongebob. It's essentially fraud, but plays the system so as to have to avoid disclosing any details about oneself to hmrc. I remember asking my accountant about it and being told "that's not a scheme, that's just blatant fraud and could lead to criminal charges".

Enough to put me off. But I know of a few individuals who used it for years and ended up paying zero tax. It always infuriated me that those people got away with it, whilst others like myself who tried to follow the rules always ended up being the easy targets, with IR35 always a threat.

My point being that nobody really knows who may slip under the radar. If hmrc's record thus far with regards to the loan charge is anything to go by, they are an utter shambles and seem to make things up as they go along. But to not disclose is a risk and certainly not for those who have trouble sleeping at night.

Now settling or not... That's a different matter. And again depends on your risk appetite and what your exposure is to LC19, compared to CLSO2.