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HMRC Latest Initiatives

The Government have made an investment in HMRC of over £900m to crack down on tax avoidance, evasion and fraud with the aim of raising an additional £7 billion each tax year by 2014/15.

This is partly being done through taskforces which bring together various HMRC compliance and enforcement teams for intensive bursts of activity targeted at specific sectors and locations where there is a perceived higher risk of tax evasion. The first taskforce targeted the restaurant trade from May 2011. HMRC's work to tackle evasion and avoidance also includes other campaigns, the Managing Deliberate Defaulters programme and penalties for undisclosed offshore income.

In 2011/12 twelve taskforces were launched in various locations in the UK looking at restaurants, fast food outlets, scrap metal dealers, fraudulent repayments, landlords, construction, property transactions and overdue returns. Earlier this year further taskforces were launched including indoor and outdoor markets, taxi firms, property rentals and restaurants. The overall target for 2012/13 is thirty such taskforces.

Other recent campaigns have targeted offshore investments, medical professionals, private tutors and coaches, plumbers, electricians, VAT defaulters and people trading on the internet.

The latest campaign which started on 18 September 2012 is targeting the legal profession in London, grocery and retail in South and North Wales, the North West and the South West, hair and beauty in the North East, restaurants in the South East and Solent and the motor trade in Scotland. HMRC have offered them all the opportunity to come forward within a set time period with the incentive that they will benefit from lower penalties. Higher penalties will apply for those who HMRC later catches up with. If you have any concerns as a result of these incentives please do contact us so that we can advise you of any action you should take.

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