Penalties imposed by HMRC on taxpayers have jumped 28% from £445m to £571m in the past year*.
HMRC’s increasing clampdown on tax avoidance is part of its efforts to make up for revenue lost during the pandemic.
As well as a drop in tax take caused by the slowdown of the economy during COVID, the Government also invested heavily in programmes like furlough to help the economy through the lockdown. According to the Public Accounts Committee, the Government has lost at least £15bn in tax-related fraud and error due to COVID. An increase in the number of tax investigations being opened by HMRC is inevitably leading to more penalties.
Source Moore and Smalley
