Taxation logo taxation mission text

Since 1927 the leading authority on tax law, practice and administration

Penalties against finance directors by HMRC drop sharply

02 August 2021
Issue: 4803 / Categories: News

The number of penalties issued personally to finance directors at large businesses by HMRC has dropped from 148 to just 20 in a year says Pinsent Masons.

The international law firm attributes much of the fall to HMRC having to shift the focus of its investigations away from tax disputes with big businesses to investigating furlough fraud.

Further it seems the department has also been taking a more selective approach to fining finance directors. For example it will now consider waiving a fine for technical breach of the tax accounting rules if HMRC is comfortable that no actual tax is owed.

Pinsent Masons' partner Jake Landman said: ‘The investigations into furlough fraud mean HMRC has bigger fish to fry but that will change. As more furlough fraud cases are closed and the lockdown finally ends we would expect compliance work focused on big businesses...

If you or your firm subscribes to Taxation.co.uk, please click the login box below:

If you are not a subscriber but are a registered user or have a free trial, please enter your details in the following boxes:

Alternatively, you can register free of charge to read a limited amount of subscriber content per month.
Once you have registered, you will receive an email directing you back to read this item in full.

Please reach out to customer services at +44 (0) 330 161 1234 or 'customer.services@lexisnexis.co.uk' for further assistance.

back to top icon