Tax avoiders blocked from honours list, secret government memo reveals

Tax avoiders are to be blocked from receiving knighthoods and other honours as authorities clamp down on rewarding “poor” financial behaviour.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has alerted the Cabinet Office to individuals involved in controversial tax schemes, with a memorandum of understanding obtained by The Times saying “poor tax behaviour is not consistent with the award of an honour”.

A government statement said the vetting process sees HMRC assign a low, medium, or high risk rating to prospective nominees “to minimise the risk that prospective candidates have behaved in ways likely to bring the system into disrepute”.

The newspaper said medium risk includes those whose tax affairs would be “likely to cause adverse comment”, such as “participating in one or more avoidance schemes”.

Red warnings are assigned to those on the HMRC’s Managing Serious Defaulters Programme, along with those involved in “offshore evasion”, the report claimed.

The memo is reported to have said: “Trust would likely be lost if an honour was awarded to someone with negative tax behaviours and those behaviours became linked to the positive recognition that accompanies the award of an honour.”

A time limit of three years is said to be in place, meaning candidates can be cleared to receive an honour if they have abandoned avoidance schemes.

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Mkize Secondary School in Cape Town, which is twinned with Whitby High School in Yorkshire. The two schools are part of a British Council funded teacher exchange scheme called 'Connected Classrooms'. The prime minister is on day one of her trip to South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya on a trade mission designed to bolster the UK's post-Brexit fortunes PA 7/50 27 August 2018 Performers take part in the main Parade day of Notting Hill Carnival in London. Nearly one million people are expected by the organizers over Sunday and Monday in the streets of west London to celebrate Caribbean culture, which is considered the largest street demonstration in Europe AFP/Getty 8/50 26 August 2018 The crowd pauses for 72 seconds silence in remembrance of all those lost in the Grenfell Tower fire at the Red Bull Music Academy Sound System at Notting Hill Getty 9/50 25 August 2018 Comedian Rose Matafeo is congratulated by Steve Coogan after winning the Edinburgh Comedy Award at the Dovecote Studio PA 10/50 24 August 2018 British Secretary of State for International Trade, Liam Fox, attends a signing ceremony for memorandums of understanding between British and Chinese firms and institutions at the British ambassador's residence in Beijing AP 11/50 23 August 2018 Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe hugs her daughter Gabriella, in Iran. She has been allowed to leave an Iranian prison for three days. 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The traditional four-day celebratory festival marks one of the holiest days in the Islamic religious calendar Getty 14/50 20 August 2018 Jeremy Corbyn campaigns on Labour's 'Build it in Britain' policy at Alexander Dennis bus manufacturers in Falkirk,Scotland. The Labour leader will spend the next four days in Scotland in an attempt to revitalize the party there Getty 15/50 19 August 2018 Manchester United women's side walk out alongside Liverpool ahead of their first professional game since 2005. United disbanded their senior women's team thirteen years ago and returned with a win, beating Liverpool in their Continental Tyres Cup match clash at Prenton Park PA 16/50 18 August 2018 Great Britain's Reece Prescod, finishes second, to USA's Christian Coleman, centre, in a photo finish after they both ran 9.94. With USA's Noah Lyles, left, finishing third in the men's 100m final during the Muller Grand Prix at Alexander Stadium, Birmingham PA 17/50 17 August 2018 Paul Elliott, right, carries the coffin of his brother Barry, 73, at the New York Stadium, Rotherham, for his funeral following his death on Sunday August 5. The veteran entertainer was one half of comedy duo the Chuckle Brothers with Paul PA 18/50 16 August 2018 Students react as they receive their 'A' level results at Stoke Newington School and Sixth Form in London. Universities accepted thousands fewer students as pass rates hit lowest level since 2010 Reuters 19/50 15 August 2018 People gather on Market Street, Omagh, for the ceremony to mark the 20th anniversary of the Omagh bombing on 15 August 1998. The worst single atrocity of the Northern Ireland conflict killed 29, including a woman pregnant with twins PA 20/50 14 August 2018 Police arrest a man after he crashed a car into security barriers outside the Houses of Parliament Sky News 21/50 13 August 2018 Communities Secretary James Brokenshire today launched a £100 million pound government fund to end rough sleeping in England within the next decade. Brokenshire is pictured here at the central London headquarters for homelessness charity the Passage, where he launched the scheme PA 22/50 12 August 2018 Police officers stand guard at the scene of a shooting at Claremont Road in the Moss Side neighborhood of Manchester, Ten people were taken to hospital on August 12, 2018 after shots were fired in Manchester in northern England, police said. AFP/Getty 23/50 11 August 2018 Great Britain's Dina Asher-Smith reacts after she won gold in the women's 200m final at the European Athletics Championships in Berlin, completing the sprint double after she won the 100m just days before Getty/European Athletics 24/50 10 August 2018 Pedestrians walk past the entrance of the retail store House of Fraser in central London. The Chinese-owned UK department store chain, entered administration on August 10 only to be swiftly snapped up by retailer Sports Direct for £90 million ($115 million, 100 million euros) AFP/Getty 25/50 9 August 2018 Local people protest outside the Hillingdon Conservative Association office on August 9, 2018 in Uxbridge, England. Today's protest is being held following comments made by former Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson, against the wearing of Burkas by Muslim women in the United Kingdom. An independent panel will investigate complaints made regarding Mr Johnson's comments and possible breaches of the Conservative Party code of conduct. Getty 26/50 8 August 2018 Britain's Prince William, right, and Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May, walk past a German flag, left, and a Britain's flag as they leave the Amiens cathedral, northern France. Prince William and Theresa May are marking the somber centenary of the Battle of Amiens, in France, a short, bloody and decisive battle that heralded the end of World War I AP 27/50 7 August 2018 Great Britain's Jack Laugher and James Heatly pose with their Gold and Bronze medal's respectively won in the 1 metre springboard men's final at the European Diving Championships in Glasgow EPA 28/50 6 August 2018 England cricketer Ben Stokes arrives at Bristol Crown Court accused of affray. The 27-year-old all-rounder and two other men, Ryan Ali and Ryan Hale are jointly charged with affray in the Clifton Triangle area of Bristol on September 25 last year, several hours after England had played a one-day international against the West Indies in the city PA 29/50 5 August 2018 Great Britain's Laura Kenny celebrates after winning the Women's Elimination Race final at the European Championships in Glasgow 30/50 4 August 2018 Ben Stokes celebrates taking the wicket of India's Hardik Pandya with team mates during the first test at Edgbaston Action Images via Reuters 31/50 3 August 2018 French President Emmanuel Macron waves to people as he arrives at the Fort de Bregancon for a meeting with British Prime Minister Theresa May epa 32/50 2 August 2018 Brexit Minister Dominic Raab is welcomed by French Minister attached to the Foreign Affairs Minister Nathalie Loiseau prior to a meeting in Paris AFP/Getty 33/50 1 August 2018 Demonstrators against Tommy Robinson outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, where the former English Defence League leader has been freed on bail by the Court of Appeal after winning a challenge against a finding of contempt of court PA 34/50 31 July 2018 Friends of Lucy McHugh gather in Mansel Park, Southampton to release balloons in her memory. Lucy disappeared from her Southampton home last Wednesday and her body was later found in woodland near Southampton Sports Centre at 7.45am on Thursday PA 35/50 30 July 2018 Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt followed in the footsteps of his gaffe-prone predecessor Boris Johnson as he mistakenly referred to his Chinese wife as Japanese whilst on his first diplomatic mission to China AP 36/50 29 July 2018 Britain's Geraint Thomas, left, wearing the overall leader's yellow jersey and Britain's Luke Rowe hold the flag of Wales during the 21st and last stage of the 105th edition of the Tour de France cycling race between Houilles and Paris Champs-Elysees. Thomas is the first Welshman to win the Tour de France AP 37/50 28 July 2018 Passengers wait and queue following flight disruption at London Stansted Airport. The British National Air Traffic Services (Nats) placed temporary restrictions during the adverse weather on 27 July leading to flight cancellations and delays across Britain EPA 38/50 27 July 2018 The scene on the A96 between Huntly and Keith in Moray where a five people have died and five more were injured after a crash between a minibus and a car. PA 39/50 26 July 2018 Anti-Brexit campaigners parked a removal van outside the Foreign Secretary's official home in central London in protest of former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson's continued residence there PA 40/50 25 July 2018 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn during his visit to HS2 trains bidder Bombardier in Derby, following the launch of the party's new Build it in Britain campaign PA 41/50 24 July 2018 Great Britain's Geraint Thomas cleans his eyes after tear gas was thrown at the pelaton during a farmers' protest who attempted to block the stage's route, during the 16th stage of the Tour de France, between Carcassonne and Bagneres-de-Luchon. The race was halted for several minutes. AFP/Getty Images 42/50 23 July 2018 Crime scene investigators at the scene near the Hilton Hotel, Deansgate, Manchester where a woman with serious injuries to her neck was found in the morning. Six people have been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after the woman was attacked inside the hotel PA 43/50 22 July 2018 Italy's Francesco Molinari kisses the trophy after winning the 147th Open golf Championship at Carnoustie, Scotland AFP/Getty 44/50 21 July 2018 Great Britain's Tom Bosworth poses after winning the men's 3000m race walk with a new World Record time at the IAAF Diamond League athletics anniversary games meeting in London EPA 45/50 20 July 2018 British Prime Minister Theresa May delivers a keynote speech at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast. The Prime Minister is on a two-day visit to Northern Ireland. During her visit, focusing on Brexit and the deadlock at Stormont, she will visit the Irish border and discuss the potential impact of Brexit with Northern Irish businesses Getty 46/50 19 July 2018 Britain's newly appointed chief Brexit negotiator Dominic Raab, left, and EU's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier speak to the media ahead of a meeting at the European Commission in Brussels. Britain's chief Brexit negotiator David Davis resigned less than two weeks ago and his successor Raab met his EU counterpart Michel Barnier for the first time late Thursday. AP 47/50 18 July 2018 An emotional Sir Cliff Richard with his legal team outside the High Court in London after he was awarded £210,000 in damages in his privacy battle against the BBC over their coverage of a police raid of his home EPA 48/50 17 July 2018 Pro-EU demonstrators wave flags outside the Houses of Parliament in Westminster. Reuters 49/50 16 July 2018 Theresa May arives to open the Farnborough Airshow Getty 50/50 15 July 2018 Novak Djokovic lifts the trophy after winning the men's singles final match against Kevin Anderson at Wimbledon AP

Individuals can be nominated despite the “use of personal service companies” or if their affairs amount to “acceptable tax planning”, it is reported.

A government spokeswoman said: “Honours are given to reward outstanding service in a given field or area and each nomination is rigorously assessed.

“As a matter of longstanding policy, in order to protect the integrity of the system, government departments which may have an interest in a particular nomination – including HMRC – are invited to contribute their views during this process.”

In 2014, MPs called for Gary Barlow to be stripped of his OBE after the Take That singer reportedly invested millions into what a judge described as a tax avoidance scheme. But David Cameron, prime minister at the time, rejected the proposal, saying Barlow has “done a huge amount for the country”.