Abuse and ‘genuine economic activity’

With the majority of taxpayers taking a cautious approach to how tax fits within their business planning, HMRC is now focusing its attention on implementation and operation. A taxpayer has the right to organise his tax affairs in the most efficient way, however, where a business has sought to restructure a ‘genuine economic activity’ but does so in a tax-efficient way, the implementation risk is reduced because the changes that are required to support the tax position are complementary to the way the company does business and therefore people understand and appreciate the need for change. ‘Genuine economic activity’ turns on the individual facts, however, ensuring clear identification of who makes the decisions and where, who implements the decisions and who advises is key.