Crackdown on tax-dodge sellers - FT.com Sales people promoting abusive tax dodges will be forced to hand over client lists, under proposals aimed at cracking down on those who "artificially and aggressively" reduce their tax bills. The Treasury is also considering extending the financial services mis-selling rules to penalise advisers who market schemes that clearly do not work, as part of new measures aimed at prising open schemes and warning taxpayers of the risks of aggressive avoidance. The crackdown is being floated in a new consultation paper launched on Monday aimed at "lifting the lid" on avoidance schemes. The initiative, promised in the Budget, comes in the wake of a public outcry last month over reports of tax planning by celebrities such as Jimmy Carr, a comedian. David Gauke, exchequer secretary, will on Monday attack aggressive planning for making it harder to fund public services, distorting competition, damaging public confidence and making other taxpayers pay more. In a speech to Policy Exchange, a think-tank, he will say: "We are building on the work we have already done to make life difficult for those who artificially and aggressively reduce their tax bill." Revenue & Customs believes it has already stemmed the tide of avoidance through tougher legislation which has led to both a reduction in the quantity of avoidance schemes being marketed. "Fewer schemes are now being sold and more are being challenged operationally, rather than through a change in the law, because it is clear that they do not work and simply do not deliver the tax advantages advertised by those who promote them," the consultation says. The Revenue has legislated 60 times to close schemes as a result of disclosure rules introduced in 2004 which give it early warning of new tax schemes. But it wants fresh powers to secure more information about schemes and their users, amid fears that some schemes, including a "significant proportion" of loss schemes are not disclosed. The latest assault on aggressive planning is focused on a relatively small group of about 20 promoters that design aggressive schemes. These are mostly taken up by men with incomes above £100,000, although the Revenue noted that certain schemes involving tax losses are being marketed to companies. Banks and financial services firms will also be affected by plans to make it "absolutely clear" that schemes that use financial products such as derivatives to reduce corporation tax are disclosable. Such schemes which "pose a very significant risk to the exchequer" are often disclosed on a "voluntary" basis. Earlier this year, the Treasury retrospectively blocked a tax-efficient repurchase of debt by Barclays sparking a complaint from the bank that it had "voluntarily and proactively" informed the tax authority about its transaction while others in a similar position had not. The Revenue said tackling the promotion of schemes that patently did not deliver the advertised tax advantages using mis-selling rules was "an interesting suggestion that it would like to explore further." The idea was put forward last month by Patrick Stevens, president of the Chartered Institute of Taxation. He said schemes that wiped out income tax were mostly thought not to work and tackling "pushy salesmen persuading people to buy schemes that are probably too good to be true" would lead to the tax system being treated with more respect.