BC and tax related offence

[tibs]

Hi All,

Just wondering if one has a (income) tax related offence, then does this have any negative imact on future British Citizenship application or not ?

Thanks in advance

[John]

Hi, when you say "a (income) tax related offence", can you be more specific please?

The problem is that the term you use could mean almost anything. A £100 penalty for missing the 31st January deadline? Or something much more serious?

[tibs]

Hi,

For example : say slapped with NI, tax for being included in IR35 ...in a scenario wherein one does contracting through his/her own company.

Thanks

[John]

OK tibs, the dreaded IR35!

Before answering your question I do hope you have had good professional advice before giving in to the Revenue on a suggestion that your company is caught by IR35? Was the contract covered by some form of TLC? That is, tax liability cover? If you have got TLC in force, and that would only tend to be after a contract review, it is incredibly rare for the Revenue to succeed with a suggestion that IR35 applies. As a Tax Consultant I do have quite a bit of experience of this. I have done many contract reviews since IR35 was introduced.

But if the Revenue have succeeded in making IR35 stick, and therefore your company does have lots of extra NI and tax to pay, I think it might possibly mean that a naturalisation application might be, well, considered more carefully than normal, especially if we are talking about a considerable sum of NI & tax.

A general point about IR35 ..... it would be quite wrong to go as far as saying it is a voluntary tax. However if the contract is worded "correctly" and the business practice between the parties to the contract matches the contract wording, well let's just say it makes life extremely difficult for the Inland Revenue.

All that is of course subject to any announcement that the Chancellor of the Exchequer might make in next Wednesday's Budget.