“The McCann Review has only reviewed settlement terms of those facing the Loan Charge and as expected has therefore recommended some concessions. This is wholly different from a genuine review of the Loan Charge Scandal and being conducted by a former Assistant Director of HMRC, was clearly not independent.
“The concessions being offered are nowhere near the settlement deals offered to the big banks for use of similar arrangements. How can it be fair to give multi billion-pound banks settlements of 10-15% whilst still demanding several times that from victims of mis-selling?”
“Whilst the recommendations reduces the level of demands, this limited review will not resolve thousands of cases, nor the wider issue. There are many people who now have lost income due to Covid, IR35 changes and also the mental distress caused by the Loan Charge. There are many people who will still face unaffordable bills, which is likely to mean further bankruptcies and more distress.
“Despite the fact Ministers have acknowledged that those affected are victims of mis-selling, the report does nothing to pursue the perpetrators of the industrial mis-selling – including Chartered Accountants, recruitment agencies and scheme promoters. This is despite Rachel Reeves herself calling for HMRC to pursue the perpetrators, not the victims, just last year.
“The review also excludes those who were pushed to settle under duress from HMRC, which means they will have ended up paying more than those who didn’t, which is grossly unfair when HMRC told them to settle and threatened them with far greater demands if they did not. It also excludes those still facing action for years pre-2010 and post 2017, all of whom are also victims of mis-selling.
“It also has failed to investigate the staggering failures of HMRC and the Treasury over a thoroughly discredited policy that has caused suicides as well as failing to stop the mis-selling of remuneration schemes. It is deeply distressing, though alas not surprising, to find that the review believes there may have been an eleventh loan charge suicide. This shows how grossly unfair, discriminatory and dangerous the Loan Charge has been, yet the Government ruled out reviewing it or HMRC’s misconduct. There still needs to be a proper and genuinely independent inquiry into the whole thing. Only that can resolve the Loan Charge Scandal and expose the truth about this whole fiasco”.