An HMRC advisory panel has found that gold bullion cannot be used to reward staff.
The General Anti-Abuse Rule (GAAR) panel, published an opinion notice, which found that it was not reasonable for an organisation to remunerate staff using gold bullion in order to avoid tax payments including National Insurance contributions and income tax.
The opinions outlined by the panel cover: rewards for employees, rewards of gold or assets and obligations to Employee Benefit Trust take on by employees.
The panel found that:
entering into the tax arrangements isn’t a reasonable course of action in relation to the relevant tax provisions carrying out of the tax arrangements isn’t a reasonable course of action in relation to the relevant tax provisions.Using these opinions together with the General Anti-Abuse Rule (GAAR) guidance can help to identify abusive tax arrangements.
