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C Thompson; D Skinner (TC3944)

J Thorne (TC3851)

HMRC plan to make even greater use of technology

Key activities for this week

G Laithwaite (TC3879)

Taxpayers reported almost 75,000 scam emails in six months earlier this year, marking a massive increase in known phishing attempts by tax fraudsters.

HMRC was notified of 74,743 scam messages between April and September: a 70% rise on the equivalent period in 2013.

The Revenue worked with other law enforcement agencies over the same months to close more than 4,000 websites responsible for sending the emails, which promised a tax refund in return for the recipient’s name, address, date of birth, bank and credit card details.

Open and closed issues in summary

HMRC’s compliance office dedicated to the tax affairs of the country’s best-off people has passed a major landmark in its five-year history.

The high net worth (HNW) unit has collected more than £1bn in additional tax revenue since being formed in 2009, with £268m retrieved in 2013/14, according to a new Revenue report, which show a rise on the previous year’s £222m.

Urgent client admin matters

The 2012/13 tax gap was £34bn, or 6.8% of tax liabilities, according to newly released HMRC figures, which show a small rise on the £33bn (6.6%) in the previous year (revised down from an initial £35bn).