HMRC Takes Action Over Unpaid APNs

HMRC has begun to take action against individuals who have unpaid Accelerated Payment Notice (APN) demands.

Accelerated Payment Notices (APNs) were issued to users of tax avoidance schemes in order to recover unpaid tax. Under an APN, HMRC issues a demand that the disputed amount of unpaid tax is paid in full within 90 days, prior to an appeal process commencing.

Recently, however, HMRC has started to take a tough approach with individuals who have not met the demands of their APNs. According to reports, HMRC has taken action against 14 users of tax avoidance schemes who have failed to pay their unpaid tax demands.

HMRC claims that circumstances are evaluated in cases where individuals may struggle to meet their unpaid tax demands, with around 95% of requests for extra time being agreed. However, last week, fashion designer Karen Millen was declared bankrupt over £6m of unpaid tax following her use of a tax avoidance scheme called ‘Round the World’, which was designed to avoid Capital Gains Tax.

Since Accelerated Payment Notices (APNs) were introduced in 2014, HMRC has issued around 70,000 to users of tax avoidance schemes. HMRC estimates that around £3bn of unpaid tax has been recovered since.

The controversial tactic has received criticism as it could potentially leave many individuals bankrupt before they have been able to being their appeal process through Tax Tribunal.

We have an experienced team of tax investigations and disclosures professionals who assist individuals through investigations by HMRC and in making voluntary disclosures of unpaid tax.

The team handles hundreds of tax investigations and tax disclosure cases each year, achieving favourable results for our clients.

If you have an unpaid tax liability, or would like to discuss your tax affairs you can do so with us in complete confidence.

You can call our tax investigations and disclosures team on 0113 387 5670, email us at enquiries@forthsonline.co.uk or fill out an Enquiry Form and we will contact you directly.