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.
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.
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.
Adam Craggs and Jonathan Levy provide a refresher guide to the rules on HMRC’s internal review process
Four new HMRC taskforces have been set up, each with the following aims:
Cadbury: ‘Cadbury, the British confectionery maker that became a cause célèbre for tax justice campaigners after it was acquired by US food group Kraft in 2010, engaged in aggressive tax avoidance schemes before the takeover that were designed to slash its UK tax bill by more tha
EU finance ministers agreed on a proposal to combat fraud related to VAT in a meeting in Luxembourg on Friday, according to Bloomberg.