Tax avoidance schemes: adviser liabilities

How can advisers become targets during HMRC investigations?

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Julian Miller and Tom Pangbourne, solicitors at Beachcroft LLP, discuss how advisers can become targets during HMRC investigations.

Since 1997, a number of tax reliefs have been introduced, designed to encourage investment in particular areas of British industry. This included investment in British films, technology start-ups and in research and development. However despite the best intentions, this inevitably attracted not just those wishing to invest in the relevant sector, but also high-net-worth individuals seeking to use the tax reliefs without any real interest in the underlying asset or the commercial success. This led to increased scrutiny by HMRC, the gradual restriction of the reliefs available, and the fai...

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