Rob Marris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rob Marris on 2016-05-18.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many tax avoidance cases the General Anti-Abuse Rule Advisory Panel considered in (a) 2013, (b) 2014, (c) 2015 and (d) 2016 to date.

Mr David Gauke

The General Anti-Abuse Rule (GAAR) was introduced in July 2013, and only applies to abusive tax arrangements entered into from this date.

This means that it will first apply to income tax returns for the tax year ending 5 April 2014, which must have been filed with HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) by 31 January 2015.

For cases to be tackled by the GAAR, HMRC must first enquire into tax returns once they are received, and gather all relevant facts. It is therefore still early in the process of litigation action for cases to be tackled by the GAAR.

The GAAR Advisory Panel is an external body separate to HMRC. Their independent role means that they do not report the number of meetings held to HMRC.