New powers from today for HMRC

Legislation has been introduced with the aim of creating a common approach to how we carry out compliance checks, and the penalties we charge, across the taxes HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) collects

By applying these new powers across a range of taxes from 1 April 2010 we will make the tax system more consistent and easier for our customers and their advisers to understand. The theme is supporting people who try and get their tax right, while coming down hard on those who don't comply. The changes include:

  • a failure to notify penalty for people who fail to register for a tax, declare taxable income or notify a new activity on which tax is due
  • a new VAT and Excise wrongdoing penalty to deal with abuse of these systems
  • a new four year time limit for claims and assessments for Capital Gains Tax, Corporation Tax, Income Tax, PAYE and VAT
  • the Compliance Checks legislation is extended to more taxes - see list of taxes
  • the inaccuracy penalty is extended to more taxes - see list of taxes
  • HMRC will be able to publish the names of deliberate defaulters

In addition, from 6 April 2010 there will be new penalties for employers and contractors who do not pay PAYE, National Insurance contributions, Construction Industry Scheme deductions and student loan deductions on time and in full.

More information on the changes is available on the individual projects internet pages:

Compliance checks

Late payment penalties

New penalties

Publishing details of deliberate defaulters