The End of Covid

HMRC "Give with one hand, Take with the other.." Government invest over £100m to recover £3.5 bn....

1. SEISS Grants 

2. Furlough 

3. VAT 

4. Penalties

5. BBLS

Editors Note:  

The taskforce will focus on abuse of the Coronvirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) and Self Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS). They will also significantly strengthen law enforcement for Bounce Back Loans.

 5 Minute Read

Dawn Register, head of tax dispute resolution at BDO said: ‘Catching tax cheats will be a key part of the government's action to repair the public finances."

HMRC plan to hire over 1,000 new HMRC investigators.

The target is to claw back fraudulent pay outs. Given the speed and scale of the response to Covid-19. HMRC recognise fraud has increased due to the ease of accessing the assistance available to legitimate businesses. HMRC has a rich pool of data to identify suspicious claims and grants, and we expect a flood of new enquiries into both legitimate and illegitimate claims.

Due to new digital and online paperless transactions checking claims will be much faster then previously experienced by the tax payer. All of these initiatives is a new focus to tackle fraud.

‘HMRC powers and technology will be further enhanced by additional money and resources for HMRC to recoup money spent during the pandemic. New steps to tackle tax avoidance and evasion are estimated to raise £2.2bn between now and 2025-26.’

Check, check and double check all of your paperwork for any claims for Furlough or Self Employed Grants. Review the effect Covid has had on your business.

If you have a mistake, and claimed support, in good faith, you need to notify HMRC.