Jonathan Burt comments in The Telegraph on HMRC’s consultation on the Uncertain Tax Treatment regime
min readHMRC has announced its intention to extend a regime introduced in 2022 for large businesses to private individuals, if they receive a tax advantage of £5 million or more.
The planned Uncertain Tax Treatment regime is currently under consultation, and would also bring trusts under its scope. The rules initially introduced for large businesses were intended to help reduce the tax gap, a proportion of which is the result of taxpayers interpreting the law differently from HMRC.
Under the existing regime, tax advantages which arise from rules around corporation tax, VAT and income tax are considered in scope. However, HMRC now intends to extend this regime to cover stamp duty, National Insurance, inheritance tax and capital gains tax.
Jonathan Burt, Partner in our International Private Client team, comments in The Telegraph:
"The central paradox of this consultation is the proposal that taxpayers should notify HMRC of uncertain tax positions even where HMRC itself has no known view. In areas like inheritance tax and stamp duty, where the law can be genuinely unclear and subject to interpretation, this would mean telling HMRC you might be wrong when nobody (including HMRC) knows what right looks like."
The consultation closes on 4 June 2026 and legislation is intended for the next Finance Bill.
Read the full article in The Telegraph here (subscription required).
Related coverage:
MSN, Yahoo Finance, GB News, Birmingham Mail
Related:
Uncertain tax treatment: When nobody knows the right answer, should you still have to notify?
