HMRC have released data on their Tax Investigations Campaigns showing revenue from January 2015 to March 2017. As you can see from the increase in the chart below, the income achieved from these targeted areas has been significant.
| Campaign | Launched | 31/1/2015 (£) | 31/3/2017 (£) | Increase (£) | Closure date |
| Offshore Disclosure Facility | 2007 | 512,190,000 | 512,455,397 | 265,397 | Nov 07 |
| Offshore New Disclosure Facility | 2009 | 156,923,070 | 167,759,651 | 10,836,581 | Mar 10 |
| Tax Health Plan | 2010 | 70,961,034 | 95,661,578 | 24,700,544 | Jun 10 |
| Tax Catch-up Plan | 2011 | 2,968,808 | 3,785,832 | 817,024 | Mar-12 |
| E Marketplaces | 2012 | 9,379,361 | 27,175,038 | 17,795,677 | Sep-12 |
| My Tax Return Catch-up | 2013 | 33,137,621 | 39,795,869 | 6,658,248 | Oct-13 |
| VAT Outstanding Returns | 2013 | 38,696,945 | 46,719,118 | 8,022,173 | Feb-13 |
| Property Sales | 2013 | 8,245,782 | 22,869,794 | 14,624,012 | Sep-13 |
| Health Wellbeing Tax Plan | 2013 | 936,315 | 3,031,057 | 2,094,742 | Apr-14 |
| Solicitors Tax Campaign | 2014 | 0 | 1,337,482 | 1,337,482 | Jun-15 |
| Campaign Consequential Disclosures | N/A | 5,536,921 | 20,455,297 | 14,918,376 | Live |
It is expected that HMRC will continue to target their Tax Investigations in this manner, rather than go in for fishing expeditions.
Connect, the computer system used by HMRC which is used for targeting purposes, now has 22 billion lines of data and has created £3 billion in revenues. It is responsible for 95% of their enquiries into Self Assessment Tax Returns.
The data comes from “open source” material, which includes news reports, internet sites, Companies House records, Land Registry reports, blogs and social networking sites where privacy settings have not been set.
HMRC recently used social media to prove that a taxpayer had been lying about not having any money after posting holiday snaps from abroad.
How will they find out? A question often posed by clients in years gone by….. Now, more than ever, HMRC have access to data which means they can – and will – find out.
If you are concerned about your tax position or HMRC have raised an enquiry into your Self Assessment Tax Return, Lambert Chapman can help bring matter up to date and liaise with HMRC on your behalf.
Posted by Lucy Orrow
Disclaimer
The views expressed in this article are the personal views of the Author and other professionals may express different views. They may not be the views of Lambert Chapman LLP. The material in the article cannot and should not be considered as exhaustive. Professional advice should be sought in connection with any of the issues contained in the article and the implementation of any actions.