Coronavirus: Self-Employment Income Support Scheme
To support the self-employed through the coronavirus outbreak the Government has introduced the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS).

On Tuesday 14 November the House is scheduled to debate the 'Paradise Papers', a large tranche of material gathered by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, leaked from two offshore service providers and 19 tax havens' company registries. Details of the financial holdings of both wealthy individuals and multinational enterprises has been reported by the BBC, the Guardian, and other media organisations that are part of the consortium, reiterating public concerns as to the scale of tax avoidance and evasion, and the ability of offshore jurisdictions to facilitate these activities. This note gives some background on this issue.
The Paradise Papers (250 KB, PDF)
The Paradise Papers (250 KB, PDF)
To support the self-employed through the coronavirus outbreak the Government has introduced the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS).
The Chancellor Rishi Sunak presented the 2021 Budget on 3 March. The Finance (No.2) Bill 2019-21 was published on 11 March, and received its second reading on 13 April.
In recent years concerns as to the scale of mass marketed tax avoidance schemes have led to three major initiatives to undermine this market, and encourage a sea change in attitudes, both in the accountancy industry and its customers: the Disclosure of Tax Avoidance Schemes regime (DOTAS); the General Anti-Abuse Rule (GAAR); and the system of follower notices & accelerated payments. Following these initiatives the Government has continued to introduce provisions to tackle both tax avoidance and tax evasion, including measures in both the Spring & Autumn Budgets in 2017, and the 2018 Budget. This note provides an introduction to the issue of tax avoidance, looking in detail at the development of follower notices and accelerated payments, before discussing the current Government’s approach.