No refund of loan charge voluntary payment

The taxpayer’s employer made contributions to a remuneration trust some of which were allocated to the taxpayer. HMRC considered these payments to be the taxpayer’s earnings and issued employer a regulation 80 determination under the Income Tax (PAYE) Regulations 2003 for income tax and a section 8 notice under the Social Security Transfer Functions Act 1999 for National Insurance contributions. In 2016 the company went into liquidation and was dissolved in 2020.

No enquiry was opened into the taxpayer’s returns. In 2019 the taxpayer entered into a settlement agreement with HMRC and agreed to pay the tax and National Insurance that the employer had failed to pay. After the introduction of the disguised remuneration voluntary repayment scheme the taxpayer applied for a refund of the sum he had paid under the agreement. This was on basis that he entered into the settlement agreement voluntarily given that...