HMRC’s new data collection powers

At first glance little in the Autumn Statement directly affected tax investigations and dispute resolution. There were no new powers for HMRC and measures such as the proposal to double the maximum jail sentence for tax fraud had been mentioned in the Spring Budget 2023. Aside from sanctions against promoters of tax avoidance schemes there are only a few areas which could impact civil tax investigations. Here we review the new data collection legislation. While not of direct relevance to tax investigations the data provided could play a significant part in identifying high risk returns and how a future enquiry is managed.

Data collection

This measure was announced earlier in the year and will require certain taxpayers to provide additional information to HMRC when filing a tax return. The reason given by the government is ‘to enable better outcomes for citizens and businesses’ ...