Under its data gathering powers HMRC may request data from business intermediaries/apps who enable or facilitate transactions, which includes data that relates to an account or system that payments are credited into.
This, for instance, allows HMRC to request details of taxi drivers who have received payments through the relevant booking app.
AccountingWeb reports that HMRC has exercised this power recently, and as a result it has identified individuals who may have under-declared their income from driving taxis or private hire vehicles. Over the next few weeks, HMRC will write to around 4,000 of those drivers.
This is a small proportion of the estimated 300,000 taxi drivers in the UK, but HMRC has indicated that this will not be the end of its investigations into this sector.
Where there is undeclared income HMRC asks the taxpayer to make a voluntary disclosure using the HMRC’s online disclosure service. In such cases it would be prudent to seek advice from tax investigation specialist before attempting to make a declaration.
The HMRC letter also asks the recipient to sign and return a certificate of tax position within 30 days.
The Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT) advises that there is no legal obligation on the individual to complete the certificate of tax position and return it to HMRC. Also, the period covered by the certificate of tax position – and therefore the declaration – is not restricted to a particular tax year. It applies to all years and has no de minimis level.
The taxpayer should be advised of the serious consequences of making a false declaration. If the individual believes their tax affairs are correct and up to date, and they don’t need to make a disclosure, it may be better to respond by letter to HMRC rather than complete the certificate of tax position.
In all cases the taxpayer, or their tax agent, should reply to HMRC
within the deadline to indicate what course of action will be taken.
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Looks like HMRC is going on a Fishing Trip.
ReplyDeleteDidn't they do something similar a few years ago with all the Lichtenstein data they 'aquired'. Asking for voluntary disclosure only to run out of time to open an enquiry anyway?
The Liechtenstein Disclosure Facility was incredibly successful as were many of the then disclosure regimes: Jersey, IOM, Guernsey etc.There we’re hundreds of cases where individuals took the opportunity to come clean either partially or completely. Can’t say what is happening these days but I hope there are similar opps.
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