HM Revenue and Customs in the UK named five new companies to its list of tax avoidance schemes, promoters, enablers and suppliers.

The following non-compliant companies were added on 5 August 2024 (each link provides details of the type of tax avoidance):

• Everest Contracting Limited
• Innovate Limited (Registered in the Isle of Man)
• Odyssey Payroll Limited
• Optima Limited (Registered in the Isle of Man)
• Alphasaint Ltd

HMRC said it is aware that some umbrella companies operate more than one scheme, such as a standard compliant scheme and a non-compliant scheme.

Seb Maley, CEO Qdos, a firm offering insurance and tax advice for contractors, said in a press release, “A failure to regulate the umbrella sector over the last decade, in combination with IR35 reform, has precipitated a huge increase in tax non-compliance.

Maley added, “The off-payroll rules have needlessly put some businesses off engaging genuine contractors, for fear of getting their IR35 status wrong. As a result, demand for umbrella companies has skyrocketed – and shifty operators have flooded the marketplace to meet it.”

“A serious change of strategy is desperately needed. The new government must follow up on the previous administration’s consultation on umbrella sector regulation with action. Flexible workers have been exposed to these compliance risks for too long, and a solution is well overdue,” Maley continued.

SIA has reached out to these companies for comment in cases where contact information was available.

The full HMRC list of companies is available online.