News
Employee Benefit Trusts
17 August, 2010
An EBT is a discretionary trust for the benefit of employees. A trust is a legal arrangement by which one person owns assets on behalf of another, such as pension funds, charities and family trusts.
The 2010 June Budget has confirmed that the HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) will introduce legislation with effect from April 2011 to address systems which use EBTs or similar vehicles that seek to avoid income tax and NI contributions.
This legislation was first discussed in the 2010 Budget when Chancellor Alastair Darling revealed plans to take this action.
A notice from Her Majesty's Treasury says that the government will be taking further action to change the game for those seeking to bend or break the rules on tax.
Anyone presently using or considering using a scheme that promises a higher net return should be careful, as HMRC has successfully applied retrospective tax action following the recent BN66 legal battle.