'Number of individuals' are under investigation for schemes subject to loan charge, says HMRC

The Treasury Committee has published correspondence from HMRC related to the loan charge and the department’s approach to tackling disguised remuneration (DR) tax avoidance schemes. In his letter, Mr Harra confirmed HMRC do not have any estimates of how many DR scheme users entered into schemes “unwittingly”, however HMRC state that the motives of those engaging in tax avoidance schemes do not affect whether tax is due.

In the letter, Mr Harra states: “In May 2022, we estimated around 40,000 individuals and 5,000 employers were affected by the loan charge and were yet to settle with HMRC, including those who had settled some but not all of their liabilities. We cannot provide data on how much tax these taxpayers owe because we do not have complete records of the DR loans they had outstanding. In most cases, this is because they have not provided the information needed to settle their affairs.”

The letter also revealed that approximately 1,200 taxpayers are discussing settlement with HMRC under the terms set in 2020.

Chair of the Treasury Committee, Harriett Baldwin MP, said: “Many of my colleagues have raised concerns about the implementation and management of the loan charge by HMRC. We believed it was important that we got answers both for our fellow MPs and their constituents.”