Reply to: Need good advice (tax advisor)

[webberg]

I think a firm quoting £40k says all you need to know. That's perhaps 80/100 hours of work and points to a long and detailed analysis over many years of income/tax.

There are days when I realise why I don't do COP9 (and never have done really) and I don't envy the OP.

[cojak]

Thanks everyone, I think I would go bankrupt as have a consultation yesterday with a specialist accountant and only fee is around £40k. Other than that he says you would need to pay every penny of tax avoided in last 21 years. My fault i think i would need a restart after one year when become a discharged bankrupt. Please do take care of your self and dont try to avoid tax as it has been a long and painful month. I still have to pay tax adviser even dont have to pay money for tax in order to avoid prosecution. I have discussed with him all going on in contractor industry , the action and big group and WTT consulting etc. and hmrc clubing down all avoidance schemes. He says there is no way you can avoid paying tax as hmrc have got a computer system which is scanning through your banks for last 10 years. it can also get records from other databases linked to land registries and DVLA and there are 35 data bases which it is connected to. Really?????? if that the case be God with us. I think time to relocate to Canada or Australia.

Imprisonment OR bankruptcy?

I'm afraid that this could well be an inclusive rather than exclusive condition...

[BrilloPad]

Do HMRC really consider EBT's to be evasion?

Nobody has been prosecuted over Rangers? Or any other EBT for that matter (as far as I know?)

I stand to be corrected though

I think there is something else going on with the OP. It looks like the EBTs were the last in a long line of schemes, some of which involved evasion.

Of course, some promoters of loan schemes said that the loans do not need to be declared on tax returns. That could lead to a COP9 too.

HMRC are getting more and more insane - its like watching NK or POTUS. Who knows what they will do next?

[webberg]

Do HMRC really consider EBT's to be evasion?

Nobody has been prosecuted over Rangers? Or any other EBT for that matter (as far as I know?)

I stand to be corrected though

Depends on how it's been used and what action was taken/not taken to disclose it or not.

Some of the mass marketed EBT arrangements (not Rangers which was allegedly bespoke) have resulted in users getting close to COP9 territory, especially as they lose consistently in Court.

[SueEllen]

Btw don't try to avoid tax in Canada or Australia - their taxmen are even more clued up...

[eek]

He said system is called connect and makes a profile even using social media accounts ????????????can that be really true.

Yes

[SurajSingh]

Connect

Outsourced system provided by Bae Applied Intelligence... For reference it also compares VAT returns with Corporate tax returns...

He said system is called connect and makes a profile even using social media accounts ????????????can that be really true.

[WalterWhite]

I think you mean evade rather than avoid based on what you posted here. And that you got a COP9. And they can reach you abroad too.

I suspect you used aggressive avoidance too (EBT) which HMRC now consider evasion. Anyone who uses that now is going to get a good kicking.

Why not contract(once you are out of bankruptcy) using a limited company or umbrella?

Do HMRC really consider EBT's to be evasion?

Nobody has been prosecuted over Rangers? Or any other EBT for that matter (as far as I know?)

I stand to be corrected though

[piebaps]

. He says there is no way you can avoid paying tax as hmrc have got a computer system which is scanning through your banks for last 10 years. it can also get records from other databases linked to land registries and DVLA and there are 35 data bases which it is connected to. Really?????? if that the case be God with us. I think time to relocate to Canada or Australia.

To be fair Suraj, the "connect" system isn't new. Its nearly 10 years old https://www.taxation.co.uk/Articles/...well-connected

Good luck!!

[eek]

I think you mean evade rather than avoid based on what you posted here. And that you got a COP9. And they can reach you abroad too.

I suspect you used aggressive avoidance too (EBT) which HMRC now consider evasion. Anyone who uses that now is going to get a good kicking.

Why not contract(once you are out of bankruptcy) using a limited company or umbrella?

Because his bankruptcy will not be 1 year long and is far more likely to be as long as legally permissible (due to reason and deterrent)... I'm surprised he's posted again on here mind you he still doesn't seem to understand the scale of the situation he is in...

[eek]

He says there is no way you can avoid paying tax as hmrc have got a computer system which is scanning through your banks for last 10 years. it can also get records from other databases linked to land registries and DVLA and there are 35 data bases which it is connected to.

Outsourced system provided by Bae Applied Intelligence... For reference it also compares VAT returns with Corporate tax returns...

[BrilloPad]

He says there is no way you can avoid paying tax as hmrc have got a computer system which is scanning through your banks for last 10 years. it can also get records from other databases linked to land registries and DVLA and there are 35 data bases which it is connected to. Really?????? if that the case be God with us. I think time to relocate to Canada or Australia.

I think you mean evade rather than avoid based on what you posted here. And that you got a COP9. And they can reach you abroad too.

I suspect you used aggressive avoidance too (EBT) which HMRC now consider evasion. Anyone who uses that now is going to get a good kicking.

Why not contract(once you are out of bankruptcy) using a limited company or umbrella?

[SurajSingh]

Thanks - its imprisonment or bankruptcy

Thanks everyone, I think I would go bankrupt as have a consultation yesterday with a specialist accountant and only fee is around £40k. Other than that he says you would need to pay every penny of tax avoided in last 21 years. My fault i think i would need a restart after one year when become a discharged bankrupt. Please do take care of your self and dont try to avoid tax as it has been a long and painful month. I still have to pay tax adviser even dont have to pay money for tax in order to avoid prosecution. I have discussed with him all going on in contractor industry , the action and big group and WTT consulting etc. and hmrc clubing down all avoidance schemes. He says there is no way you can avoid paying tax as hmrc have got a computer system which is scanning through your banks for last 10 years. it can also get records from other databases linked to land registries and DVLA and there are 35 data bases which it is connected to. Really?????? if that the case be God with us. I think time to relocate to Canada or Australia.

[Darren at Fox-Bartfield]

Tax Defence

If you have a COP9 then you need legal help. If you want to stick with tax enquiry firms then you need to look for COP9 specialists as that is serious stuff.

Any firm willing to take on the disclosure etc is likely to be charging by the hour as it's always uncertain how long the process may take. I'd be surprised if any firm would take you on for a fixed fee and deliver a decent result.

+1, just to add another name into the ring, Gary Clarkson (garyc@hentons.com) who heads up the Tax defence and Strategies team, previously with HMRC dealing with COP matters.

[Fred Bloggs]

This is not a COP8 investigation that everyone else here has received - it is a COP9.

Any tax advisor who wants to keep the OP out of jail will do all of that AGAIN. In great detail. And make the OP account for every. single. penny.

Totally agree. This is a fraud investigation. Other than armed robbery, it really does not get any more serious. To get a flavour of how serious it is, read the first paragraph of page 2 of HMRC COP9 guidelines document. If I got a COP9 demand, I'd likely have a heart attack on the spot.