HMRC clampdown on offshore trusts pays off

A crackdown on employers that set up offshore trusts for top earners has started to pay off, helping HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) more than double its takings from investigations into big companies' payroll tax avoidance last year.

HMRC stepped up its scrutiny on banks and other businesses that paid salaries and bonuses through trusts, ratcheting up an extra compliance bill for the 770 companies in the large business sector by 160% to £533m in the year to April 2013, the Financial Times reports. Companies came under pressure to dismantle structures that put money into trust for employees and members of their families, after a string of legal defeats and a change in legislation in 2011. These structures, known as employee benefit trusts, allow employees to postpone - or avoid completely - paying tax while potenti...