Banks fight HMRC over £200m bonuses bill
Tax tribunal to hear Deutsche Bank and UBS cases in February 2012
TWO MAJOR investment banks will join forces to fight the taxman over a £200m bill for unpaid tax on employees’ bonuses.
The UK arms of UBS and Deutsche Bank will appear together before a tax tribunal in February 2012, the Telegraph reports.
Both banks used offshore schemes in 2004: Deutsche used a Cayman Islands investment scheme to pool £92m of bonuses in a company that was later wound up, with the shares distributed to individuals; and UBS funneled £100m through a trust company in Jersey.
UBS has paid back more than £50m to the taxman.