RAYNER - TAX EVASION, AVOIDANCE OR A MISTAKE? IT ALL DEPENDS!!

Rayner at risk of fine over stamp duty, tax experts say

• Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner is at risk of a fine from the tax authorities in addition to having to pay an additional £40,000 in underpaid stamp duty, tax experts have said.

This story will all turn on what she told her conveyancing lawyer.

• If she did not disclose all the details of the trust, then
• She cannot use the alleged tax advice as a defence and
• She will get a penalty for carelessness.

A BBC article set out precisely what will happen next.

• She claims she was poorly advised.
• Rayner has said lawyers misinformed her, but questions have been raised about whether she sought specialist tax advice.
• tax experts have said.
• Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner is at risk of a fine from the tax authorities in addition to having to pay an additional £40,000 in underpaid stamp duty,
• Rayner, who is also the minister in charge of housing, has admitted
• She paid less in stamp duty on her £800,000 flat in Hove, East Sussex, than she should have done,
• HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) can
• Levy penalties when tax has been underpaid if someone has been "careless" with their tax affairs.
• Any penalty for Rayner,
• Which is typically 20% or 30% of the underpaid tax, could hinge on whether she took appropriate legal advice.
• 30% of the underpaid tax, meaning an additional £12,000.

Sean Randall, an independent stamp duty expert, said:-

• "Someone has made a big mistake.
• Whether it's the law firm acting for her on the purchase, or whether it is her,"
• She was at "significant risk" of a penalty because blaming an adviser may not be a sufficient defence.
• "She might say I relied on my tax advisers to advise me correctly.
• And I definitely sympathise with that [but] usually simply relying on your adviser is not a defence for a penalty of carelessness,"  

SOURCE

https://www-bbc-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.bbc.com/news/articles/c62n366q306o.amp