HMRC has warned contractors not to use Accent Umbrella Ltd as it uses disguised remuneration schemes to avoid tax
Accent Umbrella Ltd (AUL) was set up in August 2022 by director John Rowsell although he is no longer on the Companies House register as he resigned in December 2023. It now has a sole director Phillip John Pardy, who was appointed in January 2024. The latest micro accounts showed that the Widnes based firm had no employees.
The AUL website shows examples of contractors working in the medical and tech sectors, being paid a mixture of taxed national minimum wage and an untaxed balance to make up their hourly rates. The site claims that it offers ‘effortless umbrella solutions, tailored to your needs’ and has over 1,200 contractors on its books.
For the first time, HMRC has issued a warning that contractors are being recommended to use another umbrella company when an agency is named on the tax avoidance scheme promoters list.
Officials at HMRC said that employees need ‘to be cautious of following advice from promoters named on the avoidance warning list to join other umbrella companies as in its first month of operation 100% of the employees of AUL had been employed by a previously named promoter’.
This is reflected on the AUL website where a network analyst wrote a review, stating: ‘I have moved umbrellas twice now due to issues with my previous umbrellas. So far Accent has been what I hoped for all along.’
HMRC said that some employees of AUL received their remuneration made up of two elements. The first element was a salary in line with national minimum wage rates that had income tax and National Insurance Contributions (NICs) deducted. However, the second element was paid tax free.
HMRC said that both elements of the payment should be treated as ‘normal income/as the user’s salary’, and was subject to income tax and NICs.
An HMRC spokesperson said: ‘Tax avoidance schemes are cynically marketed as clever ways to pay less tax. The truth is they rarely work in the way the promoters claim and it is the users that can end up with unexpected tax bills.
‘We would urge anyone who thinks they have entered these schemes to contact us as soon as possible to get help.’