A decision at the High Court has gone in favour of HMRC, as the judge rejected Easyway Umbrella Limited’s claim for a judicial review of a decision by HMRC to publicise details of a tax avoidance scheme run by the company.

This is only the second time an umbrella company has challenged HMRC in the courts over publication.

Easyway Umbrella was set up in January 2022 by sole director and shareholder George Zambartas, who claimed the publication of the information had a ‘detrimental affect on his business’ and that ‘turnover is down; taxable profit is much reduced’, and rejected HMRC’s claims that he was using a tax avoidance scheme to pay workers.

HMRC first wrote to Easyway Umbrella as a company entity on 13 April 2023 informing the business that their details would be published on the tax avoidance promoters list on the HMRC website under section 86 of Finance Act 2022.