Offshore tax scheme warning BN66 – Royal Court of Justice ruling

Special update January 2010 – Offshore tax scheme warning – Royal Court of Justice ruling

If you have once used or are thinking of using an offshore tax scheme as a way of avoiding UK tax please read the note below.

Thursday 28 January at 9:30am the Royal Court of Justice ruled the retrospective effect of BN66 is not unlawful.

Which in plain English means that HM Revenue and Customs can now go back in time and retrospectively apply a piece of tax legislation which will affect thousands of contractors who either once used or are still using an offshore scheme/company as a way to avoid paying UK taxes.

HMRC can now go back as far as 1987 (which is when BN66 was imposed), so even if a contractor used a scheme in 1987 for one day or one year, they may now have to pay both fines and backdated taxes.

This news further supports the fact that contractors should think very carefully before using offshore schemes as a way of avoiding paying UK taxes.

Basically if you live in the UK, work in the UK, get paid for work you do in the UK, there is no way and has never been any way of avoiding UK taxes. Working through your own UK limited company is and has always been the most tax efficient way of working legally.

If you have any questions about working through your own legitimate UK limited company, as many hundreds of thousands of contractors already do and many millions of other UK limited companies do, please don’t hesitate to call 01442 232700 or email: newbusiness@sjdaccountancy.com.