Fri, 24 Jan 2025

Campaigners dismiss loan charge review as 'sham'

The charge aimed to close a tax loophole and recover backdated taxes, but has left many facing big bills.

* The government has launched an independent review into the loan charge, but it will not reconsider whether the charge itself is fair.
* The review, led by Ray McCann, aims to look at barriers preventing those owing money from paying back HMRC and recommend ways to encourage them to do so.
* Campaigners have dismissed the review as a "sham" and a "complete betrayal", saying it fails to address the core issue of the loan charge's fairness.
* The loan charge was introduced in 2019 to close a tax loophole and recover backdated taxes, but has left around 50,000 freelance workers facing large bills.
* The review will not examine how HMRC set up the loan charge or who operated and promoted the tax avoidance schemes that led to it being introduced.
* Conservative MP Greg Smith called the announcement of the review a "farce" and said the APPG would continue to push for a genuine inquiry into the scandal.
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