Penalty
warning for paper tax returns (Opens new window)
With the 31 October deadline for paper Self Assessment tax returns just
weeks away, HM Revenue & Customs
is urging taxpayers to get their paper returns in on time, or face a
penalty. If taxpayers send in a paper return on or after 1 November, they will
now be
hit with a £100 penalty - even if there is no tax to pay or the tax due
is paid on time - following the introduction of a new penalty regime this year.
The longer they delay, the more they will have to pay, as there are further
late-filing penalties after three, six and twelve months.
HM
Revenue & Customs extends Business Records Checks programme (Opens new window)
Business Records Checks involve checks on the adequacy of small and medium-sized
enterprises' records. A pilot found that around 44 per cent of businesses
have problems with record keeping, while around 12 per cent have seriously
inadequate
records. HM Revenue & Customs
(HMRC) will now extend this activity from mid September to cover key
areas across the UK. As part of this, the number of full-time staff employed
on the
programme will rise from 30 to 120. HMRC plans to complete up to 12,000
Business Records Checks by the end of the current financial year, with
20,000 provisionally
planned for 2012-13.
Reports
to HMRC of fraudulent emails soar (Opens new window)
Reports of fraudulent 'phishing' emails have risen by 300 per cent over
the past year. The emails provide a 'click-through link' to a cloned
replica of the HM Revenue & Customs
(HMRC) website. The recipient is then asked to provide their credit or
debit card details. Providing the information asked for enables criminals
to steal the account.
