Tax adviser guilty of fraud in philanthropic tax loophole 1

Fundraising | Celina Ribeiro | 17 Jan 2012

A tax adviser has been found guilty of setting up a tax avoidance scheme which attempted to exploit the benefits around giving gifts of company shares to charity.

David Perrin, deputy managing director at Vantis Tax Ltd, was found guilty of fraud at Blackfriars Crown Court of advising clients to dodge taxes to the tune of £70m, according to a report in Luton Today.

Perrin reportedly pocketed £2m in fees from 600 wealthy clients who were advised to buy stocks in four companies set up by the 46-year-old Luton man and floated on the Channel Islands Stock Exchange. Those shares were then inflated by share sales sponsored by Perrin, buoying the price to £1 as opposed to the mere pence his clients paid for them.

Those shares – essentially worthless - bought by Perrin’s clients were then gifted to unsuspecting charities. The clients then attempted to claim back £70m in tax relief from a reported total income and company profit of £213m. The court heard that Perrin himself also attempted to claim back tax relief on the bogus share gift.

HMRC criminal investigator Jim Graham chastised the tax adviser. Luton Today reported Graham as saying: “This cynical fraud not only stole millions of pounds from taxpayers, but also conned innocent charities into accepting gifts of virtually worthless shares, just so Perrin could inflate his own criminal earnings.”

Perrin is due for sentencing on 9 February.

Directory: HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC)

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Adrian Beney
Partner
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18 Jan 2012

The important thing is to keep emphasising the huge importance of tax relief on gifts of capital to persuade people to give more. The fact that one charlatan misused the system does not mean the system is broken. That he was caught and sentenced means that the system is working.

And although your article refers to tax "avoidance" this was "evasion." While the former might be morally dubious, it is legal. Evasion is illegal, and this is what David Perrin's scheme was designed to do.

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