Professional Advantage Anti Tax Avoidance Policy

This policy explains how Professional Advantage prevents tax avoidance and tax evasion, and how everyone must act to comply with UK tax law and HMRC expectations. It supports the co legal duties under UK tax legislation, including the Criminal Finances Act 2017 and the UK general anti abuse rule (GAAR). As appropriate the company will also comply with foreign tax jurisdictions as applicable.

 

SCOPE
This policy applies to:

  • All employees, directors and officers of the company.
  • All temporary workers, agency staff, contractors and consultants.
  • Third parties acting for or on behalf of the company, including certain suppliers and intermediaries.

 

OUR COMMITMENT

The company:

  • Has a zero tolerance approach to tax evasion, the facilitation of tax evasion, and aggressive or abusive tax avoidance schemes.
  • Will pay the right amount of tax, in the right place, at the right time, in line with the spirit and letter of UK tax law.

 

WHAT IS PROHIBITED

No one must:

  • Take part in tax evasion, or help any person or organisation evade tax.
  • Design, promote or use artificial or contrived arrangements whose main purpose is to obtain a tax advantage that HMRC is likely to treat as abusive under GAAR.
  • Falsify records, misdescribe payments, hide income or assets, or ignore “red flags” that suggest tax evasion or an abusive scheme.

Examples of prohibited conduct include:

  • Creating false invoices or changing descriptions to reduce VAT or other taxes.
  • Paying staff “off the books”, misclassifying workers, or using contrived arrangements to avoid PAYE or NIC.
  • Using obviously artificial structures or offshore entities where there is no genuine commercial purpose, mainly to obtain a tax advantage.

 

ROLES AND RESPONSBILITIES

  • The Board (or equivalent) is responsible for overall oversight and setting the tone from the top.
  • Finance and Tax are responsible for day to day tax compliance and for reviewing higher risk transactions or structures.
  • HR, Procurement and Operations must ensure contracts and supplier arrangements do not involve or facilitate tax evasion.
  • All staff must follow this policy, complete training, raise concerns, and co operate with investigations.

 

RISK BASED APPROACH AND DUE DILIGENCE
The company will use a risk based approach by:

  • Identifying areas where there is a higher risk of tax evasion or abusive tax avoidance (for example, use of intermediaries, cross border payments, and cash intensive activities).
  • Performing proportionate due diligence on higher risk third parties and transactions (e.g. checking ownership, tax residence, purpose and substance of arrangements).

Staff should treat situations as higher risk if, for example:

  • A third party asks to be paid in cash, via unusual routes, or in a different name or jurisdiction without clear commercial reasons.
  • A tax saving appears “too good to be true” or is based on secrecy or a lack of documentation.

 

ADVICE AND APPROVAL

  • Only authorised personnel (such as the Head of Tax, Finance Director or equivalent) may approve tax sensitive structures or bespoke tax planning.
  • Complex or cross border arrangements must be reviewed by internal experts and, where appropriate, external professional advisers.

Employees must not rely on informal advice or implement schemes promoted by third parties without proper review and sign off.

 

TRAINING AND COMMUNICATION

  • Relevant staff will receive training on this policy, UK tax evasion offences and how to spot high risk situations.
  • Training will be refreshed periodically and whenever there are significant legal or HMRC changes affecting this area.

The company will communicate this policy to key third parties where appropriate, and may require them to confirm their own tax compliance standards.

 

REPORTING CONCERNS (WHISTLEBLOWING)

Everyone must promptly report any suspicion or knowledge of:

  • Tax evasion, or attempts to evade tax.
  • Facilitation of tax evasion by anyone connected with the company.

Reports can be made through internal reporting channels or the whistleblowing process, and may also be made directly to HMRC, which operates a reward scheme for certain tax whistleblowers. The company will not tolerate retaliation against anyone who raises a concern in good faith.

 

INVESTIGATION AND CONSEQUENCES

  • All reported concerns will be reviewed and, where appropriate, investigated promptly, fairly and confidentially.
  • Breaches of this policy may lead to disciplinary action, up to and including dismissal for gross misconduct, and termination of relationships with third parties.

The company may also report serious matters to HMRC, law enforcement agencies, regulators or professional bodies, and will co operate with any external investigations.

 

MONITORING AND REVIEW

  • The company will monitor how this policy operates in practice and review it regularly to reflect changes in law, HMRC guidance and business risk.
  • Updates will be approved at an appropriate senior level and communicated to staff and relevant third parties.