UK Tax Authority To Publish Tax Avoidance Scheme Disclosure Statistics

by Jason Gorringe, Tax-News.com, London

16 October 2006

HM Revenue and Customs last week announced its intention to publish the number of disclosures of tax avoidance schemes received.

In 2004, disclosure rules were introduced requiring promoters and users to notify details of certain direct tax and VAT arrangements to HMRC. The rules were extended to Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) in 2005, and from 1 August 2006 to the whole of Income Tax, Corporation Tax and Capital Gains Tax.

According to the UK tax authority:

"Since the introduction of the rules, tax professionals, business and others have shown a great deal of interest in the total number of disclosures made, and have made many requests to HMRC for the information. These have included requests under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act (FoIA)."

"As the disclosure rules were developed in collaboration with tax professionals and business, HMRC see making the information more accessible part of its continuing commitment to this collaboration. Publication of the information is not inconsistent with the strict rules on taxpayer confidentiality and the provisions of the FoIA."

HMRC therefore announced that starting at the end of this month, it will publish the total number of disclosures that have been made up to 30 September 2006. The information will appear in two tables, one for direct tax and SDLT and the other for VAT.

The statistics will be updated in April and October of subsequent years.

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