HMRC have launched the ‘Tax avoidance: don’t get caught out’ campaign targeted at contractors who may be approached by people or businesses marketing tax avoidance schemes, or who may be faced with a scheme under third party recommendations or by searching on the Internet.
A contractor can be self-employed, a worker or an employee if they work for a client and are employed by an agency. 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 purpose, other than to artificially reduce the amount of tax that someone has to pay.
Tax avoidance schemes can create life changing tax debts for people who are tempted into them without understanding the risks they carry.
For further information please visit the HMRC ‘Tax avoidance: don’t get caught out’ page which contains useful guidance and personal stories for contractors to educate themselves about the dangers of tax avoidance schemes and how to identify them