Review into loan charge launched

A new independent review into the loan charge has been launched by exchequer secretary to the Treasury James Murray. It will be led by Ray McCann former president of the Chartered Institute of Taxation.

The review will examine the barriers preventing those who are subject to the loan charge but have not paid their tax liabilities from reaching resolution with HMRC. It will recommend ways in which they can be encouraged to settle with the tax authority.

The loan charge first announced in 2016 was intended to tackle historical use of arrangements that sought to avoid income tax and National Insurance by disguising remuneration as a form of non-taxable payment typically a loan.

The government says it ‘recognises that there are concerns about the loan charge including the size of liabilities owed by some of those affected and their ability to...