The Government faces a new offensive against its bonus tax after several frustrated figures at leading brokerages said that they were still unclear whether they would be hit, more than a month after the Chancellor unveiled the tax.
At least one is considering toughing it out with HM Revenue & Customs by not paying the tax.
Meanwhile, a group of brokers is understood to be preparing a joint approach to the Government, arguing that they should not be caught by the tax as they did not receive any bailout money and would not do so in the future as they are not considered to be systemically important.
There is anger and anxiety among the broker community after pure asset managers and private equity groups were told that they would escape.
David Berman, a partner at Macfarlanes, the City law firm, said: “Without clarification, firms will need to undertake some painstaking analyses to determine whether they fall within the tax.”
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The remuneration committee at Royal Bank of Scotland, which is 84 per cent-owned by the taxpayer, meets to discuss bonuses this week.