Tax avoidance schemes stats to be published

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has announced that it intends to publish the number of disclosures of tax avoidance schemes received.

In 2004 disclosure rules were introduced requiring promoters and users to notify details of certain direct tax and VAT arrangements to HMRC. The rules were extended to Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) in 2005, and from August 1 2006 to the whole of Income Tax, Corporation Tax and Capital Gains Tax. Since the introduction of the rules, tax professionals, business and others have shown a great deal of interest in the total number of disclosures made, and have made many requests to HMRC for the information. These have included requests under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act (FoIA).

As the disclosure rules were developed in collaboration with tax professionals and business, HMRC sees making the information more accessible as part of its 'continuing commitment to this collaboration. It has also said that publication of the information is not inconsistent with the strict rules on taxpayer confidentiality and the provisions of the FoIA.

What will be published

Starting on 31 October 2006 HMRC will publish the total number of disclosures that have been made up to 30 September 2006. The information will appear in two tables, one for direct tax and SDLT and the other for VAT. The statistics will be updated in April and October of subsequent years.

Each tax within a table, with the exception of SDLT, is subdivided by category of scheme. For direct tax the categories are financial and employment up to July 31 2006, and hallmark from August 1 2006 onwards. For VAT the categories are listed and hallmark.

Within these categories the totals received will be given as six-monthly totals (up to March and September each year) and annual totals (up to end of March).

Information on the history of the disclosure rules and further details on interpreting the statistics will be published alongside the tables. The information note will give details of the total number of voluntary registration scheme (VAT hallmark) disclosures received to date.