IFAs rush to insure against HMRC probes

Nervous advisers feel they may be next on the HMRC’s ‘hit list’ after it probed tax professionals for promoting what it deems ‘unacceptable tax avoidance schemes’, says Reynolds Porter Chamberlain (RPC). It says IFAs, as well as solicitors and accountants, who recommend tax avoidance to clients could find themselves subject to dawn raids by HMRC officers and demands to hand over documentation and information relating to their clients to the taxman. In addition, RPC says IFAs fear being sued for poor advice by irate investors annoyed at being caught up in a lengthy HMRC investigation. ...