With the recent furore regarding complex tax avoidance schemes, as tax specialists we thought we could share our reasons for not generally getting involved in such schemes.
For users of aggressive schemes, before the introduction of DOTAS, it was a question of hoping the scheme went under the radar, but now this is almost impossible (as shown by the rise in the number of media oustings). It is now a question of waiting for an enquiry to begin, and hoping that when it does, the scheme is water tight. More often than not the age old adage applies, that if something seems too good to be true, it is.
The majority of such schemes fail and the client is forced to pay the tax, interest and possibly penalties in addition to the high planning fee. This can leave a sour taste in the mouth for the client, with them unlikely to come back for repeat business.
With the introduction of the general anti-abuse rule announced in the latest budget, the scope for such schemes is to be narrowed even further; a point which appears to have been conveniently forgotten by the country’s media.
At Eaves & Co we pride ourselves in providing bespoke tax planning which works; this is simply not possible to achieve using one-size fits all tax avoidance schemes. Therefore with client satisfaction and value for money as our main aims we steer well clear of providing or recommending such schemes.
We find that genuine tax planning provides a robust position for the client and gives them more comfort that the planning works and will not be counteracted at some point in the future. There is less chance (although obviously the risk is still present) of costly and time-consuming correspondence and litigation involving HMRC. This is because the planning is specific to the actual facts relating to the client, taking into account their needs and commercial aims. The client has more peace of mind.
We are keen to maintain a good reputation and build on-going relationships with the tax authorities and working within the spirit of the law is an important aspect of this.