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Loan Charge and Taxpayer Fairness APPG announces new officer team and commits to carrying on campaigning against the Loan Charge and unfair treatment of taxpayers

The Loan Charge and Taxpayer Fairness APPG has been formally constituted and the new officers for the forthcoming year have been announced. The new officers and the APPG have committed to continuing the work to highlight the injustice of the Loan Charge and associated unfair tax measures, that breach the principles of natural justice and the rule of law.   

The name of the Group has been expanded to include ‘taxpayer fairness’, which was already in the APPG’s description, but this also allows the APPG to look at HMRC’s use of Accelerated Payment Notices, as well as the Loan Charge, the way contracting and freelancing is structured and renumerated and other issues and examples of taxpayer unfairness as they may arise.

The purpose of the APPG is “To raise concerns about the 2019 Loan Charge and associated tax laws which affect thousands of freelance, contract and locum workers in the UK, as well as the wider context of fairness of tax legislation and the conduct of Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs.”

The new officers of the Group are as follows:

Co-Chairs:

Sammy Wilson MP (DUP) (registered contact)

Greg Smith MP (Conservative)

Mohammad Yasin MP (Labour)

Vice-Chairs:

Baroness Susan Kramer (Liberal Democrat)

Dr Lisa Cameron MP (SNP)

Gerald Jones MP (Labour)

Sarah Olney MP (Liberal Democrat)

Rushanara Ali MP (Labour)

Officers:

Fleur Anderson MP (Labour)

Alex Sobel MP (Labour)

The Loan Charge Action Group has again been appointed by the APPG to be the APPG’s Secretariat.

The AGM minutes thanks outgoing officers: Co-Chairs Sir Ed Davey MP, Ruth Cadbury MP, Sir Mike Penning MP and Vice-Chair Owen Thompson MP.  Historically the APPG’s work has been key to securing the Morse Review, which led to the legislation being changed so that the Loan Charge would apply retrospectively for ten years rather than the original twenty, as well as other changes. The APPG has also played a key role in exposing malpractice in the contracting and freelancing sector by promoters of tax avoidance schemes, umbrella companies and recruiters, all of which has contributed to the Loan Charge scandal and people facing unpayable demands for arrangements they were told were legal and approved.

Commenting, Loan Charge APPG Co-Chairs said:

Sammy Wilson MP, Co-Chair of the Loan Charge and Taxpayer Fairness APPG (DUP):

“Following the AGM of the Loan Charge and Taxpayer Fairness APPG, we have elected an excellent new set of officers and are committed to continuing to highlight the injustice of the Loan Charge and I am delighted to be a Co-Chair. Retrospective tax legislation should have no place in a democratic society and we’ll keep campaigning against that and other measures that undermine the rule of law. On behalf of the APPG, I also want to thank the outgoing officers, especially Sir Ed Davey, Ruth Cadbury and Sir Mike Penning who led the APPG so ably over the last year and kept the issue firmly on the Parliamentary agenda as we will continue to do”.

Greg Smith MP, Co-Chair of the Loan Charge and Taxpayer Fairness APPG (Conservative):

“I’m pleased to have been elected as a Co-Chair of the Loan Charge and Taxpayer Fairness APPG, one of the biggest APPGs in Parliament.  I look forward to working with fellow Officers to continue to work of the APPG in highlighting the unfair Loan Charge and the devastation it has and will cause to families up and down the country, including those in my own constituency. The APPG will work cross-party to try to persuade the Government to look at this issue again and to come up with a fair, final resolution to properly resolve this issue, which is still firmly on the political agenda”.

Mohammad Yasin MP, Co-Chair of the Loan Charge and Taxpayer Fairness APPG (Labour):

“I’m pleased to be continuing the work of the APPG in highlighting the unfairness of the Loan Charge, a policy that we now know wasn’t properly presented or explained when it was introduced. I’m pleased to have been elected as a Co-Chair of the Loan Charge and Taxpayer Fairness APPG and look forward to the APPG challenging the Government over this ill-conceived policy and others issues where taxpayers are treated unfairly”.

[Ends]

 

Notes to Editors

  1. The Loan Charge and Taxpayer Fairness APPG (All Party Parliamentary Group) consists of parliamentarians of all parties from both Houses of Parliament to raise concerns about the 2019 Loan Charge and associated tax laws which will affects thousands of freelance, contract and locum workers in the UK, as well as the wider context of fairness of tax legislation and the conduct of Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs. See loanchargeappg.co.uk and Twitter @LoanChargeAPPG. The Loan Charge APPG is an officially registered Parliamentary Group, as described on the UK Parliament website www.parliament.uk/about/mps-and-lords/members/apg/. 
  1. The Officers of the Loan Charge APPG are as follows:
  • Sammy Wilson MP (DUP) – Co-Chair and registered contact
  • Greg Smith MP (Conservative) – Co-Chair
  • Mohammad Yasin MP (Labour) – Co-Chair
  • Baroness Susan Kramer (Liberal Democrat) – Vice-Chair
  • Dr Lisa Cameron MP (SNP) – Vice-Chair
  • Gerald Jones MP (Labour) – Vice-Chair
  • Sarah Olney MP (Liberal Democrat) – Vice-Chair
  • Rushanara Ali MP (Labour) – Vice-Chair
  • Fleur Anderson MP (Labour) – Officer
  • Alex Sobel MP (Labour) – Officer