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).
C Jordan (TC4010)
O O’Ryan (TC3956)
Taylor Made Consulting Ltd (TC4018)
P Rowe (TC4023)
Stamp duty penalties revised
HMRC are set to launch a test version of their latest web tool for tax advisers, as the department continues to ramp up its digital services.
The offering known as agent online self-serve (AOSS) will be made available by the end of the year to volunteers, to provide access to details of employer PAYE clients’ tax liabilities and payments.
Users will experience:
Download background and reviews of tax software, online solutions and specialist digital products.
A large proportion of the supplement, produced in association with our sister title Tax Journal, is devoted to personal tax products, especially those geared towards self assessment
Download the exclusive Xero
free report here.
