BIA response to enhancing HMRC's ability to tackle tax advisers facilitating non-compliance
The BIA submitted our response to a government consultation on enhancing HMRC's ability to tackle advisers facilitating non-compliance.
This consultation explores a number of options to enhance HMRC’s powers and sanctions, allowing them to take swifter and stronger action against professional tax advisers who facilitate non-compliance in their clients' tax affairs.
The BIA welcomes this consultation as R&D tax relief is vital to the life sciences, and as policy lever for delivering the Growth Mission and Industrial Strategy – in which HMRC plays a critical role. We are therefore supportive of proposals that help reduce fraud that is resulting in taxpayers’ money being directed to companies not contributing to economic growth.
In our response, we:
- Reiterate the importance of R&D tax reliefs to start-ups and scale-ups, and how by incentivising investment into innovation, they are a vital component of economic growth.
- Share government's concerns about the impact the fraud is having on the R&D tax relief system, and welcome measures that clamp down on non-compliance, provided that legitimate claims and compliant sectors aren't negatively impacted.
- Ask government to consider reviewing the rate of R&D tax relief to introduce an uplift to ensure that R&D tax reliefs remain internationally competitive and growth-boosting – providing that effective anti-fraud measures are introduced, and significant savings achieved.
