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HMRC have published information on their website explaining the work being carried out on the disclosure of tax avoidance schemes (DOTAS).
A package of five measures revising and extending disclosure was consulted upon following the 2009 pre-Budget report. They include:
- a new 'trigger point ' for the disclosure of actively marketed;
- an information power giving HMRC the power to require a scheme introducer to identify the promoter;
- increased penalties for failure to comply with a disclosure obligation;
- a new requirement for promoters to provide HMRC with periodic information about clients who implement a notifiable scheme; and
- revised and extended hallmarks.
The first four of these measures were included in FA 2010, s 56 and Sch 17, and HMRC expect regulations implementing these changes, including some changes to hallmarks, to come into force on 1 January 2011.
The work on revising and extending the hallmarks will proceed in two tranches. The first tranche will make some changes to the existing hallmarks, primarily confidentiality and premium fee. It will also remove the off-market terms hallmark. They will come into force at the same time as the implementation of the FA provisions
The second tranche will consist of new hallmarks targeting areas of specific risk and will take into account changes since FA 2010.
Discussions with business and representative bodies on the implementation of these measures will continue as the detail is worked out.
The update also provides more detail on client lists. These are required under FA 2004, s 313ZA. HMRC will use shared workspace for electronic transmission of client lists. The information to be provided consists of:
- the name and address of the promoter;
- the scheme reference number (SRN);
- the name and address of the client, which is the address to which the promoter sent the SRN;
- the reporting period covered by the list; and
- as an option, it will be possible to include a client’s unique tax reference or National Insurance number.
