HMRC’s civil penalty system is working in line with its objectives but cannot be shown to be encouraging positive behavioural change in taxpayers, according to the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS).
The announcement follows a short research project by the office that focused on inconsistencies in the application of the fines and found them to be appropriate for the increasingly digitised nature of the tax system.
R and A Heler (TC4014)
HMRC plan to make even greater use of technology
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 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:
HMRC’s have moved all of their self assessment (SA) guidance to the GOV.UK domain, as part of the ongoing migration of information from the Revenue’s own site.
The department has pledge to “make sure nothing gets lost during this transition”, and bookmarked links will automatically redirect to a page on either the government web hub or, in cases of outdated details, the National Archives site.
Update on the migration of content from HMRC’s website to GOV.UK
Payroll Alliance wants examples of diminished information on GOV.UK
Employer Bulletin 48 published
Springfield China Ltd (TC3508)