Chairman Stephen Ainsworth confirmed the body is considering taking formal action, after a letter he wrote to members of GAPP was leaked to the press earlier this week. In the letter, Ainsworth said the association had consulted lawyers DLA Piper and that “they have proposed that we [GAPP] should invoke the formal HMRC Complaints Procedures”.
Reasoning as to why opting for the use of the complaints procedure over a Judicial Review would be preferable, Ainsworth said DLA Piper had informed him it would be less public “making it easier for HMRC to change their stance” and would “enable a claim to be made for financial redress (which should at least force senior HMRC and HM Treasury officials to take notice of our complaints)”.
The letter goes on to detail the costs it is anticipated would be associated with making the complaint, asking members for a contribution of £1,000 towards a £20,000 fund to pay for it.
Ainsworth informed International Adviser that he was disappointed that what was a private letter to members of the association, had been circulated so widely and said the association “took a dim view of the publication of our private correspondence”.
He added that GAPP is “hoping to open a dialogue with HMRC but we do need to keep all our options open, given that we have received no communication with HMRC to date. If this continues we will need to discuss with our legal advisers what the next step is, and this cannot exclude the possibility of laying a formal complaint.”
Guernsey, once one of the lead players in the Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pensions Scheme market, has suffered a number of serious setbacks in recent months, culminating with HMRC’s decision not to include any Guernsey QROPS on its list of registered schemes which it deemed were for non-residents last month.
