Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether HMRC received legal advice supporting the pursuit of employees rather than employers for use of loan schemes.

The long-standing basis of the UK income tax system is that individuals are responsible for paying their tax liabilities. Individuals are therefore liable for tax on their income received through disguised remuneration avoidance schemes, whether as a loan or in some other form.

Where there is an employer, the employer may be obliged to operate PAYE on the payments to their employees. In these circumstances, HMRC in the first instance, and wherever possible, seeks to recover the tax due through PAYE from the employer. However, the employee remains the person liable to the income tax and in some circumstances the law allows HMRC to recover the tax due directly from the employee.