Vantis execs charged over £219m "charity tax" evasion scheme

Two senior executives at Vantis have been charged with setting up a tax scheme that HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) alleges evades tax on income of £219m, according to The Times.

David Perrin and Roy Faichney, both senior managers at the stock market-listed firm, will face charges of "cheating Her Majesty and the public revenue". The scheme is said to involve high-profile celebrities and sportsmen, although there is no suggestion clients were aware of alleged fraud. Both Perrin and Faichney formerly worked for HMRC.

They are said to have exploited the Gift Aid scheme on shares, which allows donors gifting shares to a registered charity to reclaim tax at up to 40% on an amount equal to the value of the shares. HMRC claim that 321 million shares were created in four newly-formed companies; and then listed on the stock exchange in the Channel Islands and gifted to charities at a value of £1 each. HMRC have said that the shares are ‘for practical purposes worthless or of nominal value only’ after investigating whether the share prices had been manipulated for tax purposes.

Perrin and Faichney have insisted they are innocent and unaware of any wrongdoing. A spokesman for Vantis stated that both men "will be strenuously defending any charges brought against them, having received a summons to appear at Highbury Corner Magistrates Court on October 30, 2009".

Further reading:

Charity tax schemes 'cost UK £100m'

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