HMRC and the Advertising Standards Authority have joined forces to cut the promotion of misleading marketing for tax avoidance schemes
Together the pair hope that the use of joint enforcement notices will help to disrupt the activity of promoters and protect people from misleading adverts which could tempt them into tax avoidance. Moving forward, promoters must be clear about the potential consequences of tax avoidance in any online adverts. Immediate sanctions include having their paid advertising removed from search engines and follow-up compliance action, which can include referral to Trading Standards.
HMRC has also launched its ‘Tax avoidance: don’t get caught out’ awareness campaign, which it hopes will educate and warn off contractors about dodgy tax avoidance schemes.
Jesse Norman MP, the Financial Secretary to the Treasury, said “The government has made clear its determination to clamp down on the promoters of tax avoidance schemes. As always, we would encourage people to pay close attention to HMRC’s warnings not to enter tax avoidance schemes. If it looks too good to be true, it almost certainly is.”