Quarterly contentious tax review

The 2019 loan charge and PAYE

As readers will know Finance (No. 2) Act 2017 introduced a charge on certain outstanding loans which HMRC considers to be ‘disguised remuneration’ designed to avoid tax (the loan charge). The loan charge will apply to all such loans made since 6 April 1999 if they are still outstanding on 5 April 2019. Debate continues to rage on whether the legislation is fair given that a charge will be levied on loans made up to 20 years ago – a time period normally reserved for taxpayers who have behaved deliberately or in other words fraudulently. A common complaint from taxpayers who will be caught by the loan charge is that whilst they may have utilised ineffective tax arrangements they...