I have received several emails recently from organisations claiming I could use an employee benefit trust (EBT) to reduce tax. Is this a scam, or is there something in it?
In outline a lot of EBT schemes work like this: the company pays money into the EBT and employees of the company receive a loan from the EBT in place of all or part of their salary. The employees pay tax on just 4% on the loan per year. This all sounds good, but there can be various problems in practice. Some schemes are more aggressive than others and you should be prepared for the Taxman to look very closely and try to challenge such arrangements. They are not for those not willing to take some risk and you should be made aware of all the risks involved before proceeding.
