THE Queen’s banker, Coutts, has been caught operating an unlawful £1 billion tax avoidance scheme for some of its wealthiest clients.
The scheme involved a Swiss-based investment trust that made a deliberate loss, allowing clients to make deductions from their UK tax bills.
About 300 Coutts customers have been forced to repay up to £400m in tax they had hoped to avoid after HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) ruled that the Castle Trust scheme had breached UK tax laws.
Many of the clients claim they were poorly advised and are planning to sue Coutts, which is owned by the state-controlled Royal Bank of Scotland. It raises the prospect of ordinary taxpayers compensating some of Britain’s richest people.
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