[ermintrude]

At least it hasn't taken the Tories nearly a whole term to begin to address this issue...

Got to say I agree with this http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/politics/article4285739.e... (paywall).

Summary: Hodge wants to make it a criminal offence to sell or promote illegal tax avoidance schemes in the first place. So if HMRC challenge a scheme and it's found illegal, the lawyers/accountants who developed it can be criminally prosecuted as well as those who used it.

[swamp40]

I don't know much about this particular tax issue in the UK, but if you think that lawyers are going to draft a bill which other lawyers will then sign into law that criminalizes the typical day-to-day activities of lawyers - well, I'm sorry to say that you are going to be disappointed.

[DangerousPie]

The point is that they aren't illegal though, isn't it? These companies are not doing anything illegal, just (arguably) unethical.

[driverdan]

> Hodge wants to make it a criminal offence to sell or promote illegal tax avoidance schemes

Isn't promoting something illegal already illegal by definition?

[ermintrude]

Apparently not:

"HMRC can prosecute tax advisers if they try to hide schemes, but has no sanction against those that create and sell artificial trading arrangements designed solely to dodge taxes."

That's what she wants to change.

[pcrh]

That's hardly likely to make any difference. The accountants and lawyers will simply move to wherever their activity is legal.

[binarymax]

This sounds like something that isn't defined as illegal yet but might be in the grey area - and if HMRC decides it's illegal later then you are punished ex post facto.

[vixen99]

Definitions!

llegal tax avoidance = tax evasion. You might as well talk about legal tax evasion.