INVESTIGATIONS

The general reaction to HMRC’s announcement that it has collected only £747m so far from the Swiss/UK tax agreement has been that it is a ‘flop’.

The additional tax yield received from compliance investigations into small and medium-sized businesses by HMRC has increased by 31% in the last year, according to figures obtained by UHY Hacker Young.

HMRC’s latest tax disclosure campaign is aimed at residential property landlords. No closing date has been set and the opportunity to come forward voluntarily will remain open for at least 18 months. HMRC said: ‘By coming forward voluntarily, people will receive the best possible terms.

The amount of additional corporation tax HMRC has collected through tax investigations into the largest businesses has fallen to its lowest level since 2006/07, according to figures obtained by law firm Pinsent Masons.

Dawn Register

HMRC has published its Business Plan update for 2013/14, in which it restates its determination to clamp down on tax avoidance and evasion, using new technology, a ‘raft of new campaigns and taskforces’ and legislation aimed both at tax avoiders and scheme promoters, writes Dawn Register.

Jonathan Levy

Who could be caught by reform proposals on ‘high-risk promoters’? Jonathan Levy considers the likely impact of HMRC’s latest consultation.

Pinsent Masons has reported that the number of criminal prosecutions for tax evasions has more than doubled in a year, as HMRC ‘cracks down on middle England’. According to figures obtained by the law firm, there were 617 tax evasion prosecutions in 2012/13, compared with 302 in 2011/12.

‘Tax avoiders go to ground’: The Financial Times has reported (2 August) an apparent drop in appetite for tax avoidance strategies among private clients.

People have until 9 August to tell HMRC about any unpaid tax on property sales, and until 6 September to pay the tax owed under the department’s property sales campaign, under a tax ‘amnesty’ HMRC introduced earlier this year.