Common themes

[StrengthInNumbers]

Best of luck Rob. I hope yr commercial venture is able to bring different promoters and contractors together. As my alias says, that will help all.

[dangerouswhensober]

Many thanks Rob - I believe your posts have been invaluable in mitigating the confusion and distress which the present Government & HMRC have created.

I wish your commercial venture well.

[cojak]

Thank you Rob79.

[Rob79]

I've been in this forum for a few months and a number of subjects crop up in the different threads. I thought it might be useful to bring a few together.

First, a number of you entered the various schemes available in the early 2000's for a number of reasons. Most of you had no background in tax matters and as such were not able to judge what sort of approach HMRC might adopt. Some of you believed what you were told about schemes being "compliant". Some of you were forced into seeing tax as another overhead to be reduced in order to remain competitive. Whatever the reason, you're all in the same boat now and the name of the game is SUPPORT and not take cheap shots.

Second, there are a lot of groups. Most of these are product centric. I do think that there is value to be had in identifying common themes and forming support networks across the product groups. For example NIC, IHT and ToAA crop up a lot and the law there does not change.

Third, groups will inevitably fall into patterns. I've posted material on that before and won't repeat it here. Suffice to say, pick you group wisely. If you want to fight your corner to the last breath, join a fighting group. If you want to simply settle and be done, pick a settlement group.

Fourth, be aware of the realities of your position. Plan for the worst and hope for better. The reality is that HMRC has applied an interpretation to many situations which has caught out many of the promoters and made assertions of compliance into a lie.

Fifth, be aware of how much a fighting group costs. The usual approach is for a group to be administered by a steering committee who engage an accounting and/or law firm. Once sufficient funds and material have been raised, a barrister is appointed. that advocate may be engaged for judicial review and or tax litigation. Be prepared for the four UK steps of litigation. That may require 5 years or more to complete from first appearance. EU litigation extends time and cost.


This is my final post.

I have persuaded my firm that we should be active in this sector and we will shortly be advertising our services here and elsewhere. Consequently I would not be able with any integrity to continue to post thoughts and views in an unbiased way.

Dependent upon the forebearance of the administrators here my PM account may remain open for a period if you want to find out more about what I'm planning.

It was never my intention to dangle a carrot in the postings I've made in order to generate business eventually but rather an intellectual pursuit that opened some opportunities. For those that think otherwise, you have my apologies. For those who read my posts and found some merit in them, you're very welcome.

Good bye and good luck in the future.