DOTAS (Disclosure of Tax Avoidance Schemes)
Categories: Tax, Ethics/Morals
In general, if you're involved in tax avoidance schemes, we recommend you don't disclose them. To anyone. You never know who's going to rat you out.
The official "Disclosure of Tax Avoidance Schemes" is a UK program aimed at ferreting out loopholes in the tax code.
It's not an attempt to fight tax evasion, which represents the illegal attempt to hide money from tax authorities. The DOTAS targets tax avoidance, or the use of legal means to get around tax laws in ways that the government didn't foresee, and probably didn't intend.
DOTAS represents the formal method used by the British version of the IRS, called Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs, or HMRC...to figure out how people are gaming the system. From there, the HMRC might recommend changes to the tax code to close off loopholes, maybe someday turning your scheme from tax avoidance to tax evasion.
That's why we repeat: keep your mouth shut. (Whispered...)