• Luke Pollard MP urges Chancellor to suspend and review Loan Charge
• MPs across all parties concerned about this policy’s impact on mental health
• Government’s approach described as “deeply unfair”

Today Luke Pollard, MP for Plymouth Sutton and Devonport joined a cross-party call to suspend the Loan Charge, a policy which has caused anxiety and distress to many. In 2016, the Government announced it would tackle tax avoidance by introducing a new charge on loans paid through “disguised remuneration” schemes, which had not been taxed and were still outstanding by 5 April 2019.

Earlier this year the Government said they would publish a report which reviewed the effects of this charge before the April deadline. Labour called for this review to include an assessment of the profile of those affected, and in particular, the impact on lower-paid taxpayers. Critics have said the Government acted in bad faith and produced a “whitewashed report” with no proper review or impact assessment, and which ignored the clear and known risk to people.

The Loan Charge is causing great anxiety and stress for those people HMRC are pursuing for retrospective taxes. This includes a number of people in Plymouth. Luke has joined the campaign to suspend the Loan Charge after being contacted by people he represents who are being chased for payment by HMRC on a retrospective basis.

Luke Pollard MP said:

“Tax that is owed should be collected and the Government should be going after tax avoiders. But instead of focussing their efforts on tax-dodging tech giants, they’re pursuing individuals and small traders with huge retrospective tax demands. The approachof Ministers has been deeply unfair and they have ignored the cross-party concerns being expressed about the Loan Charge issue.

 

A number of people in Plymouth have got in touch with me saying they are facing “life-destroying” consequences because of a retrospective tax bill that was not due at the time. In a debate in the Commons today Ministers ignored the genuine cross-party concerns raised by the media and MPs of all stripes and said they would plough on with this deeply unpopular scheme.

 

The Loan Charge is causing genuine hardship and anxiety to people in Plymouth and across the country. Everyone should pay their fair share of tax, but the way HMRC are applying tax law retrospectively capturing more people and demanding huge back taxes is unfair and very troubling. I’ve written to the Chancellor urging him to suspend the Loan Charge and rethink their approach.”

ARE YOU AFFECTED BY THE LOAN CHARGE IN PLYMOUTH?

Have you been approached by HM Revenue and Customs for back taxes in relation to the Loan Charge? Were you advised these schemes were legal only to find out HMRC now classify them as deferred income and are applying taxes to them? If you live in Plymouth, Luke wants to hear your experiences so he can raise them with Ministers. Please get in touch with Luke and share your experiences.