It announced in the past half an hour that legislative measures are to be put in place to stem tax avoidance through the use of QROPS. It is believed, though, that this only relates to Hong Kong schemes.
The announcement said a “tax loophole would have emerged” had the government not taken action. No detail was provided on what the loophole is or what action will be taken.
It said more information would be provided on HMRC’s website, though no detail was available on the HMRC site at the time of writing.
The announcement said the legislation takes effect from today.
David Gauke, Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, said “The Government has set out a clear strategy on preventing tax avoidance. We will not hesitate to take action to stop those who seek to take unfair advantage of unintended tax loopholes. Today’s measure demonstrates our commitment to act quickly to close these.”
The announcement added that a written ministerial statement confirming the measure would be made following Parliamentary recess, which ends on April 26th.
More details to follow.
