‘No penalties for innocent tax errors’: Head of HMRC piles more pressure on Zahawi January 26, 2023 The boss of HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has told MPs there are “no penalties for innocent errors”, as he was quizzed on the tax furore surrounding Nadhim Zahawi. HMRC chief executive Jim Harra, appearing before the Public Accounts Committee where he was due to discuss tax compliance and the pandemic, was pressed on some [...]
UK’s ‘science superpower’ dreams at risk due to HMRC crackdown on R&D tax relief fraud January 24, 2023 The UK’s goal to become a ‘science superpower’ is at risk as an increasing number of British firms move their R&D activity abroad, due in part to HMRC’s crackdown on fraudulent tax relief claims, a new report says. More than two-thirds (69 per cent) of UK businesses moved R&D activity abroad last year, figures from [...]
Inheritance tax: London property nets HMRC £820,000 in death duties on average, double other regions’ intake January 9, 2023 Property makes up half the wealth of estates in London paying inheritance tax (IHT) – around twice as much as most other regions, according to a retirement specialist. An HMRC Freedom of Information (FOI) request from retirement specialist Just Group revealed that in 2019-20, the latest financial year of available data, property accounted for 50 per cent [...]
Government to spend tens of millions more to crack down hard on tax fraud December 9, 2022 The Autumn Statement revealed that the government will spend an additional £79m to fight tax fraud in the next five years, as HMRC is promised greater resources to tackle the tax gap. This marks a 27 per cent increase on the £292m investment announced at last year’s Budget. Through the extra £79m, HMRC expects to raise an [...]
Fraud crackdown saves £400m for public purse, enough for 130k people’s healthcare December 6, 2022 The government’s fraud-fighting efforts have saved more than £400m, enough to cover 130,000 people’s healthcare. New figures released by the cabinet office show the cash was kept in the coffers thanks to new state-of-the-art data matching technology. The fraud clampdown comes after Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced in the Autumn statement, the UK would set aside [...]
Tax Tribunal backlog soars following HMRC crackdown on fraudulent umbrella companies December 4, 2022 The backlog of cases waiting to be heard in the UK’s tax tribunal has surged following an HMRC crackdown on fraudulent “umbrella companies”. The number of cases waiting to be heard in the First-Tier Tax Tribunal has increased 84 per cent over the previous year to heights of 46,000, according to UK government figures. The [...]
Taxman grabs 30 per cent more from Brits over last five years November 23, 2022 The amount of money the taxman takes away from Brits has climbed 30 per cent over the last five years, City A.M. analysis of official figures shows. In the year to 31 October this year, HMRC collected £757bn in taxes, up from £584bn in 2015/16, stats out this week reveal. The rise in tax revenues [...]
Delinquent tax balloons to £38bn as HMRC walks ‘fine line’ to avoid mass insolvencies November 16, 2022 Unpaid tax has ballooned by 10 per cent to almost £38bn in the last three months of the year, but HMRC is concerned about triggering a wave of insolvencies. HMRC denied claims it is ramping up its debt collection, as it comes under increasing pressure to chase up delinquent payers in a time of economic [...]
HMRC sues EY following dispute over property tycoon’s tax affairs November 15, 2022 HMRC has filed a High Court lawsuit against EY over alleged misrepresentations to the UK tax authority in relation to British property investor Jamie Ritblat’s tax affairs. The case relates to a broader dispute between HMRC and the Tory donor over taxes on £141m in profits from Ritblat’s Delancey property investment firm, the Financial Times [...]
HMRC’s Covid fraud taskforce to leave billions unaccounted for November 14, 2022 An HMRC unit set up to tackle Covid fraud is set to leave £3.3bn outstanding when it winds down in March 2023, campaigners have warned. The Taxpayer Protection Taskforce, which was set up by Chancellor Rishi Sunak in March 2021, will be phased out, despite having collected less than 25 per cent of the money [...]