09 February 2021 
Andrea Marshall, Tax Specialist
HMRC have asked us to share with you details of an education campaign that they started before Christmas, targeted at contractors who are self-employed or employed through an agency to help them spot Tax Avoidance schemes.
The email from HMRC is below.
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We want to share with you details of the ‘Tax avoidance: don’t get caught out’ educational campaign. The campaign is targeted at contractors who are self-employed or employed through an agency and aims to inform them about how to spot a tax avoidance scheme, the risks of taking up such schemes, and what to do when faced with one. As an organisation who whose members deal with contractors, we need your help to share this educational information through the communication channels you use to contact your members. By working together, we can help protect contractors from those marketing tax avoidance schemes.
What is a tax avoidance scheme?
Tax avoidance involves bending the tax rules to try to gain a tax advantage that was never intended. It usually involves contrived transactions that serve no real purpose other than to artificially reduce the amount of tax that someone has to pay. It is not the same as effective tax planning but is often promoted as such. Tax avoidance does not pay, as most schemes do not work. People who use them must pay all the tax that is legally due, along with interest and possibly penalties. This is on top of the fees they paid to the person or business who sold them the tax avoidance scheme, so often they end up paying more than they tried to avoid in the first place. Everyone is personally responsible for making sure they pay the correct amount of tax under UK law, even if someone else sorts it out for them or gave them bad advice. Not paying the right amount of tax also means that the vital public services we all use including schools and hospitals do not get the money they need.
Why are we launching a campaign targeting contractors?
HMRC wants to support people to stay clear of tax avoidance and encourage contractors not to be tempted by tax avoidance schemes, including those that claim to increase take-home pay and reduce tax bills. If something looks too good to be true, it almost certainly is. For more information go to the ‘Tax avoidance: don’t get caught out’ page.
What we are asking of you
We would be grateful if you could share news of this campaign with your members through the routes available to you. We will be publishing social media posts for the campaign which may be of use, so please do let us know if you would like more information on these. Please contact Mitch Timms in the HMRC External Affairs team at mitchell.timms@hmrc.gov.uk for more information about social media posts and the campaign more generally.
