Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

Joint and several liability definition

What does Joint and several liability mean? Joint and several liability describes a situation where two or more parties are each responsible for the same obligation, so the creditor or claimant may recover the whole amount from any one of them. Payment or performance by one discharges the others to that extent. The paying party may seek contribution (or, where applicable, indemnity) from co‑obligors. Used across contract and tort/delict, it commonly arises with co‑borrowers, co‑guarantors and concurrent wrongdoers/tortfeasors. It differs from purely joint liability (where all must be sued together) and several liability (where each is liable only for its share). In England & Wales and Northern Ireland, contribution...

HMRC joint and several liability notices under Finance Act 2020: directors, participators and LLP members—tax avoidance/evasion, facilitation, phoenixism and coronavirus support clawback; commencement, scope, reviews and appeals

Published by a LexisNexis Tax expert

Practice notes

joint and several liability notices under the Finance Act 2020

The Finance Act 2020 (FA 2020) introduced powers enabling HMRC, in specified insolvency-related circumstances, to hold certain individuals personally responsible for tax debts or particular tax penalties owed by companies or LLPs, on a joint and several basis, by issuing a joint and several liability notice (JSLN). Those potentially caught include:

directors, shadow directors and other individuals involved in managing a company
participators in a company
members or shadow members of a limited liability partnership (LLP)

These measures were developed as part of efforts aimed at ‘tackling the small minority of taxpayers who deliberately abuse the insolvency regime in trying to avoid or evade their tax liabilities, including through the use of phoenixism.’ HMRC’s guidance summarising the JSLN provisions reflects this, while emphasising the legislation’s deterrent effect: ‘The aim of the legislation is to deter individuals from using insolvency as a way of getting out of paying their tax liability.’ The regime operates by heightening the negative consequences for individuals performing a management function in relation to a company or LLP, where that entity is engaging in particular categories of ‘bad’ behaviour, and...

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David L. Irvine

Goodwin

David Irvine is a partner in Goodwin Procter’s tax practice. He specializes in investment fund work (including fund formation and fund secondary transactions) and corporate restructuring (including distressed M&A) transactions. David Irvine advises multi-asset managers, private equity, infrastructure, real estate, debt and credit fund sponsors and management teams on the domestic and international aspects of fund structuring, tax efficient incentivization arrangements and tax issues associated with their investment programs. He also advises a number of institutional investors on their investments with and into private funds as well as providing them with assistance in relation to their own account transactions and strategic advice on managing their tax profile....

Nathan Langford

Goodwin

Nathan advises on a range of domestic and cross-border tax issues arising in a range of contexts, including private equity and general corporate M&A transactions, fund formations and leveraged financings, but with a particular focus on issues arising in the context of insolvencies and business restructurings. He also has experience of advising on structured financing arrangements and tax litigation....

Web page updated on 27/05/2026

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