Advice regarding tax avoidance from my husband in a divorce

[Misty8498]

Hoping for some help .
myself and husband are going through a divorce.
however he committed tax avoidance which I was unaware of we have assets not a lot however he states I am liable to pay half . The mortgage was in his name and bills paid by him as he was the higher earner . Is this true if we go to court?

Tax avoidance is legal. Do you mean tax evasion?

I'm not to sure myself what it would be called
tax avoidance/evasion

Well he was self employed and was with an umbrella company which paid tax however not the correct amount .
he did owe 50 thousand and has now go up to 80 thousand in 3 years .

Who has asked him to pay the amount? The amount he wants you to pay half of?

There's not enough info to know. If it was avoidance then he's just trying to scare you. If it's evasion is he confessing to scare you or has he got caught? How is he self employed? What's the umbrella company? If he has set up a limited company the strong likely hood is that the house is safe unless it's in the company. Are you a director of the company? There's so many questions.

HMRC

It's certainly true that divorce will involve looking at the sum of all assets and liabilities in deciding splits, and that would usually include tax bills.

However, anything 'dodgy' could be classed as conduct it could be important to include.

it has all been admitted and awaiting to go to court however tried to settle out of court and his expecting me to pay 40 thousand of the debt tax fraud that was in his name .
im just so confused

It’s his personal tax bill, you’re not legally liable for it but the fact he has to pay it might mean you get less in a settlement. It sounds like he’s trying g to scare you. Ignore him and follow the process.

I'm just worried I will end up losing everything

Always remember that “he says it” doesn’t mean “it’s true”.

If you have all the facts then a discussion with your solicitor, a look at HMRC website for a guide or ring and chat with them may help you.

Good morning
is there anyone with family law experience that can advise me .

regarding tax fraud, divorce and assets going to court ?

the tax fraud is solely in my husbands name which I was unaware of until he was caught . the debt has gone from 50 thousand to 80 in 3 years and he has told me that I'm liable to pay half out of the assets .
he is in a higher income than myself I still need to find somewhere to live however he can afford to privately rent .

i would be very grateful as the money in the pot is going very fast and I'm going out of my mind with worry

You need professional advice.

You need to find a solicitor
there are far too many specific questions to consider here

I think the tax bill will reduce the amount in the joint pot. He is solely liable for the fraud but the unpaid tax went into the joint pot so needs to be repaid out of it. Although I think any penalties imposed are his alone. But I'm not a lawyer and you need proper advice.

This is not uncommon. Did you sign a tax return? Are you a director or shareholder of the business?

If he owes tax legitimately then even if it comes from the joint pot you won't be in any worse position than you would have been if he had paid the tax in the first place. It will all depend on what he has to pay back and what, if any, fines there are.

You need a tax adviser and or a lawyer . Maybe one that deals with tax resolution.

There was something about this last week on R4 you and yours - self employed small businesses having used an umbrella company to manage their finances and tax (IR35?) but the umbrella companies got the tax status wrong and HMRC is coming after the small business owner, sometimes for tens of thousands of £.
Seems very unfair to me, as it's the umbrella companies that were wrong - the people they had on the programme, claimed to have no idea the arrangement wasn't 'proper'.
It all sounded very complex, and I'd get specialist legal advice. Maybe email you & yours, they're always interested to hear from people affected by something they've reported.

If there is a tax bill then it should be split / taken from assets - if he suddenly got a tax rebate you would benefit the other way

Good morning,
Would anyone know is this a known logo from HMRC .

Yes. That's usually found in their email signatures.

Have you registered your interest in the marital property by placing a charge against it?

You need a solicitor experienced in divorcing someone that has committed tax fraud and fast.

Where has the 80k unpaid tax been spent?
car? House? Holidays? Savings?

if you’ve benefitted from this, it’s right it’s paid back out of those things….

Your not liable or in trouble it does however mean that the total sum of assets is 80k less than you thought it was.

No that's not HMRC. Look at the detail on the 'crown'. This is an official doc from them received last week - I work in tax.

It's the official logo currently used in their external email signatures. Sometimes it's different colours but it's definitely the right one.

The crown is different on that one as that's the new 'king' version.

Not many departments will have actually changed this for letters though.