Tax firm run by SNP’s auditors accused of potentially running avoidance scheme
A boutique tax advisory firm run by the Scottish National party’s new auditors has been accused of potentially running a tax avoidance scheme to help parents who are paying private school fees.
Signature Tax, an offshoot of AMS Accountants Group, offers clients “tailored tax solutions” on its website, including advice on paying fees in a “tax efficient manner”.
The SNP appointed AMS as its auditor more than six months after the previous firm quit, as it tried to reassure members it could avert a significant loss of public funding by filing its financial accounts on time.
Signature Tax’s website says its planning “allows grandparents to assist their children in a tax efficient manner” by helping them “fully utilise” the tax-free £12,570 personal allowance and £1,000 dividend allowance for each grandchild.
But the tax policy expert Dan Neidle said the complex arrangements could enable business owners who can grant shares to family members the ability to avoid almost £60,000 of tax on £100,000 of annual school fees.
Neidle, who investigated the Tory former cabinet minister Nadhim Zahawi’s tax affairs, told the Guardian it struck him as a “tax avoidance scheme”.
He said: “I expect HMRC will challenge it, and for their challenge to succeed. Any taxpayer who buys the scheme from them could end up in a very expensive mess, given HMRC’s new powers to penalise.”
The SNP leader, Humza Yousaf, confirmed on Wednesday that the party had signed a contract with AMS, based in Manchester, to work on both the party and the Westminster group’s accounts.
The appointment is a boost for Yousaf, whose first weeks as SNP leader have been overshadowed by concerns around internal governance and a police investigation into the party’s finances that began
Read more on theguardian.com
