Скачать или смотреть WARNING: HMRC Compliance Checks Heading YOUR way...

High earners face surge in tax investigations is the headline in today's Times newspaper.

A freedom of information request revealed that HMRC’s team, which specialises in the tax affairs of those earning more than £200,000 a year or with assets of £2 million+, netted more than £1.5 billion in 2024 (this is double the amount raised the previous year).

Following from the success of this campaign, HMRC has decided to hire an extra 400 specialist tax compliance officers over the next four years.

My personal view is that this is just the tip of the iceberg. I can see this trickling down to SMEs across the UK to the point where it won't be unusual for companies to receive tax investigations or audits every three to five years as a matter of routine. They will try to squeeze the pips out of the small to medium sized companies.

This is just my personal opinion and I have nothing further to go off other than the above headline and story with regard to high net worth individuals. However, it's not difficult to see the scenario where HMRC and the government are running out of options to raise further taxes and therefore why not go and squeeze the middle as if they're not squeezed enough already.

So the message is, if you don't have an accountant, get one. If you do have an accountant, make sure you have a good one.

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