Begging letters from HMRC
As regards Offshore Umbrella Companies HMRC is to continue sending out threatening begging letters to contractors. This is an attempt to get money from them for using offshore schemes that are completely legal.
Said one offshore umbrella company owner “To be honest it’s HMRC scare mongering. They know they can’t legally demand retrospective taxes. However they sent out 30,000 letters in 2013 and will again this year”.
They cannot hope to process that number of contractors, especially when their staff numbers have been cut. However, they are hoping to scare contractors into sending them money.
Tax Avoidance, Not Tax Evasion
Their big problem is that offshore umbrella companies are tax avoidance rather than tax evasion. One is legal and one is illegal.
What HMRC really need to do, if they want all that tax money, is to get the Government to change the laws to make it illegal.
However, despite what they say, the Government have little interest in shutting this down. They are not keen for comedians like Jimmy Carr to use tax avoidance schemes or indeed common or garden contractors.
Legal Tax Avoidance
Most of their donors use tax avoidance. Indeed Cameron’s own money came that way as his father was a setter-up of offshore avoidance schemes and was into it earlier than most people. So, this is where Cameron’s inheritance came from.
George Osborne has an offshore family trust worth around £5m. They probably teach Tax Avoidance at Eton.
Most of the offshore tax avoidance islands around the world are British colonies where the hedge funds ‘reside’.
Isle of Man
Offshore Umbrella Companies for contractors, which are mostly in the Isle of Man, are allowing contractors to do the same as the ‘knobs’ and avoid tax.
As regards offshore umbrella companies HMRC would love this to be changed. However, there is no way that the Tories will annoy their benefactors and sponsors by killing off this golden goose. It is annoying for them that contractors and comedians can’t be kept out.
So, as regards offshore umbrella companies, HMRC just have to send out begging letters to thousands of contractors. They may or may not be using offshore umbrella companies. They hope to can scare them into sending them money.
For a list of Offshore Umbrella Companies you should click Offshore Umbrella Companies List