HMRC has finally spoken out about new powers to scrutinise “every” UK bank account. Amid a crackdown on disability benefits fraud by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), officials are set to gain access to bank accounts and have the authority to confiscate funds. Under existing HMRC regulations, as outlined in the Finance Act 2011, it can already request banking details to ensure individuals are paying the correct amount of tax.
Richard Las, the chief investigation officer and director of the Fraud Investigation Service at HMRC, described the new powers as essential for “bulk data gathering”. Mr Las explained: “I guess it is not just the banks, but we do get the information on interest-bearing accounts. It is an annual exercise, not a real-time exercise.” He further clarified the timing of this process: “It is clearly timed in such a way that it helps us understand whether the right amount of tax has been paid on interest that has been accrued.”
He continued: “We are talking about large accounts because in most cases people’s interest is quite small, but there will be some people who get a lot of it.”
Mr Las added: “We have a huge amount of controls over how we manage that information and how we use it and protect it – they are our normal requirements as with any other taxpayer data.”
“We have information from merchant acquirers on transactions that businesses might make, for example.”
HMRC scrutinises merchant data to spot inconsistencies between the information from merchant acquirers and the tax/VAT returns filed by businesses, reports Birmingham Live.
WLH Tax has handled numerous investigations triggered by discrepancies between HMRC’s Merchant Acquirer data and the turnover figures declared by businesses on their tax or VAT returns.
HMRC is particularly focused on sectors such as restaurants, bars, coffee shops, hairdressers, beauticians, and high street retailers.
Mr Las said: “We also have information that we get from online platforms in terms of sales and things like that. It is all part of bringing that information together.”
