Taxman stops presses on newspaper tax avoidance scheme

Taxman stops presses on newspaper tax avoidance scheme

Tribunal ruling saves public purse £104m

A NEWSPAPER-BASED tax avoidance scheme worth £5.6m has been blocked in a tribunal by HM Revenue & Customs, clawing back £104m for the public purse through similar cases.

The scheme functioned by licencing newspaper mastheads to avoid tax, but the tribunal ruled subsidiaries of Iliffe News and Media were not entitled to tax deductions on payments made to its parent company for their use.

Between 2003 and 2005, various trading subsidiaries of Iliffe assigned the mastheads to the parent company and then licensed them back for a fixed term in return for a lump sum payment.

HMRC said the legislation was changed in 2005 in order to scupper schemes such as Iliffe’s.

Jim Harra, HMRC director-general for business tax, said: “This is an important ruling against a marketed avoidance scheme and the latest in a series of successful HMRC challenges to such schemes. We will continue to challenge artificial arrangements such as this in the interests of the vast majority of businesses and people who choose to play by the rules.”

Share

Subscribe to get your daily business insights

Resources & Whitepapers

Why Professional Services Firms Should Ditch Folders and Embrace Metadata
Professional Services

Why Professional Services Firms Should Ditch Folders and Embrace Metadata

3y

Why Professional Services Firms Should Ditch Folde...

In the past decade, the professional services industry has transformed significantly. Digital disruptions, increased competition, and changing market ...

View resource
2 Vital keys to Remaining Competitive for Professional Services Firms

2 Vital keys to Remaining Competitive for Professional Services Firms

3y

2 Vital keys to Remaining Competitive for Professi...

In recent months, professional services firms are facing more pressure than ever to deliver value to clients. Often, clients look at the firms own inf...

View resource
Turn Accounts Payable into a value-engine
Accounting Firms

Turn Accounts Payable into a value-engine

3y

Turn Accounts Payable into a value-engine

In a world of instant results and automated workloads, the potential for AP to drive insights and transform results is enormous. But, if you’re still ...

View resource
Digital Links: A guide to MTD in 2021
Making Tax Digital

Digital Links: A guide to MTD in 2021

3y

Digital Links: A guide to MTD in 2021

The first phase of Making Tax Digital (MTD) saw the requirement for the digital submission of the VAT Return using compliant software. That’s now behi...

View resource