Taxing questions for Chancellor on where to draw the line on avoidance

Tax advisers are calling on the chancellor to make clear in this week’s Budget that while tax evasion is a crime, tax avoidance is a citizen’s right – and a good idea.

In response to the recent debate on where the line should be drawn, accountancy firm Saffery Champness calls for “reasoned distinctions between tax planning that is legal and based upon common sense, and practices that fall foul of the law”.

It says the term ‘tax avoidance’ has now become contaminated, with the result that ordinary financial prudence is often lumped with sophisticated tax evasion and even fraud.

Elaine McInroy, tax specialist at Saffery Champness’s Edinburgh office, said: “There are often two ways of doing something to reach the same financial goal. When saving for your retirement, you could do it in a tax-efficient way – for example through a pension – or via ordinary savings which would suffer income tax or capital gains tax. In this way, paying into a pension could be considered tax avoidance.”

She went on: “People who ensure that their spouses or civil partners have an equal spread of investment income are avoiding tax. Similarly, investing in Isas or EIS companies reduces your overall tax bill. It would be bizarre to view these tactics negatively.

“There is no obligation under the tax rules to structure your affairs in order to pay more tax, nor should there be. For most people in this country of moderate income or wealth, tax is a cost in their lives which needs to be managed in the same way as they manage every other cost.”

George Bull, head of tax at Baker Tilly, says: “The shifting sands of public and judicial opinion are such that nobody any more can say with any certainty where the limits of acceptable tax planning now lie.”

New research from unbiased.co.uk, the financial adviser service, claims UK taxpayers are wasting billions in tax payments they could legitimately avoid. The 2015 Tax Action report, in partnership with Prudential, says that total waste this year could top £4.9 billion, through unused allowances across ISAs, pensions, capital gains tax and inheritance tax.

Karen Barrett, chief executive of unbiased.co.uk, says: “We know that paying tax isn’t something people enjoy, yet more than half of UK adults admit that they haven’t done anything in the past year to reduce their tax liabilities.”

Danny Cox, financial planner at Hargreaves Lansdown, has 10 tax-saving options to choose from.

1. Make the most of income tax allowance and tax bands

If you are married (or in a registered civil partnership) and your spouse pays less tax than you, move income-yielding savings and investments into their name, and make full use of their personal allowances and basic rate tax bands, where applicable. The increase in personal allowance to £10,000 provides greater opportunity for tax-free income.

2. Use your ISA allowance. You can shelter up to £15,000 (rising by £240 from April 6) in any combination of cash and stocks and shares.

3. Use your pensions allowance A £1,000 investment into a personal pension benefits from £250 basic rate tax relief added automatically. Higher rate taxpayers can claim back a further £250 back

4. High earners with lump sums could invest up to £190,000 in their pension (four years’ worth of maximum annual allowance) at a cost after tax relief of £104,500

5. Pension for your spouse Investing in a pension for a non-earning spouse is one of the most generous of government pension giveaways. Non-earners can make a £2,880 pension contribution and the government add £720, even if the individual pays no tax.

6. Use your capital gains tax allowance of up to £11,000 a year on selling investments. If you want to re-buy them, use the proceeds and do it within an Isa.

7. Register losses on your portfolio and they could offset future gains.

8. Income-producing assets should be held within an Isa if you are a higher-rate taxpayer

9. Save Inheritance tax – you can give away up to £3000 a year

10. Sophisticated investors should consider VCTs for 30% tax relief.

As for expected rabbits from the last Osborne hat, Fraser Campbell, partner at accountants Campbell Dallas in Glasgow, says: “I expect strong words and maybe some more tinkering around tax avoidance and evasion given the current mood, although there have been over 40 legislative changes in this area in the past couple of years so the government really needs to wait to see the impact of current arrangements before any more major changes are made.”

Ken Welch at VWM Wealth in Glasgow says: “Fiscal necessity means that the government needs to raise revenues and within the wealth management sector they will be looking closely at pension tax relief, the disparity between capital and income tax rates, inheritance tax rates and thresholds. However there is the likelihood that policy will, in the short term at least, be directed towards winning votes and grabbing headlines with the implementation of policy being rather precarious given the uncertainty surrounding a possible hung parliament and coalition negotiations.”

Stephen Ford, head of wealth at Brewin Dolphin,pleads: “The financial services industry is flat to the boards preparing to advise investors on countless changes to savings products and tax incentives. Our budget wish, therefore, is for no more tinkering around the edges with this fundamental restructuring of pensions and Isas.”