Q. I was contracting (permie since 2010) but for a period was using Montpelier. I am now trying to disentangle this in a way that is lawful but am not clear what the start point is – specialist accountant/tax lawyer etc. Do you have any suggestions?
A. You cannot disentangle an arrangement retrospectively for tax purposes. If you were using Montpelier it is likely that you were involved with their IR35 Manx Partnership which has been the subject of HMRC investigation as it was a tax avoidance scheme. If your purpose is to “disentangle” those arrangements, which I am not sure you can do legally anyhow, then HMRC will not accept this as a way of escaping any subsequent tax liabilities.
If you feel you have been misled by Montpelier in any way then you will need to seek separate legal advice. From a tax perspective, however, HMRC will hold you responsible for the tax/NIC that they are unable to collect from Montpelier.
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