Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent estimate his Department has made of the numbers of (a) people with closed tax years who have been found liable for the 2019 Loan Charge and (b) promoters of loan schemes subject to the 2019 Loan Charge that have been convicted of criminal offences related to those loan charges.

The information requested is not available. HMRC are working through the settlement process with those Disguised Remuneration users who came forward to settle their tax affairs before 5 April 2019.

The loan charge was announced in Budget 2016, and scheme users who chose not to repay the outstanding loan or agree a settlement with HMRC by 5 April 2019 are now liable for the loan charge and should report it as part of their 2018-19 tax liability.

To date, no promoters of disguised remuneration (DR) schemes have been convicted of criminal offences related to DR schemes. There are no criminal offences specific to the promotion of mass marketed tax avoidance schemes, but HMRC may conduct a criminal investigation into an individual’s actions when, for example, reliance is placed on a false or altered document, or if material facts are misrepresented. For example, last month six individuals were arrested on suspicion of promoting fraudulent loan charge arrangements.

Since the formation of HMRC’s Fraud Investigation Service on 1 April 2016, more than 20 individuals have been convicted for offences relating to arrangements which have been promoted and marketed as tax avoidance schemes, resulting in over 100 years custodial sentences. A significant number of avoidance scheme promoters are currently under criminal investigation by HMRC.