HMRC must treat film scheme participants fairly

Andrew Tyrie has written to the chancellor Philip Hammond about HMRC’s treatment of participants in film schemes.

The chair of the House of Commons’ Treasury Committee said: ‘If a tax avoidance scheme is found by the courts to be illegal then investors in the scheme have no option but to repay the tax that they have avoided. But HMRC needs to treat people fairly including investors in what are now considered to be tax avoidance schemes and to be transparent and timely in their approach. So I have written to the chancellor about a number of concerns expressed to me.’

Mr Tyrie said he had received representations from advisers and individuals that the outcomes ‘are not always fair or what anyone could have expected’. Some have resulted in ‘financial calamity’ for investors. But he acknowledged that film tax relief was ‘too generous and ill designed’ and...