Scam Season for Self Assessment Tax Clients
In the wake of the self-assessment deadline, HMRC has shifted its focus to raising awareness about the prevalence of fraudulent tax refund offers, urging the public to remain vigilant against potential scams. They are emphasising the relentless nature of criminals who exploit such deadlines for personal gain.
Over the past year, HMRC has responded to a staggering 207,800 referrals from the public regarding suspicious contact, marking a 14% increase from the previous year. Among these reports, more than 79,000 were related to counterfeit tax rebates.
The importance of heightened vigilance surrounding deadlines has never been more important. Taxpayers are warned against falling prey to scam texts, emails, or calls that promise refunds or demand unpaid taxes. These communications, even if they don’t explicitly mention self-assessment, could be sophisticated attempts to deceive individuals into sharing sensitive personal information.
Despite the need for continued vigilance, HMRC have confirmed there has been a significant decrease in tax rebate scams over recent years, dropping by approximately 80% from 2020 to last year. This reduction, while promising, underlines the ongoing necessity for public awareness of scam correspondence and phone calls.
HMRC has improved its ranking from the third most exploited brand globally in 2015 to now being well outside the top 100, attributing this success to the implementation of technical controls and robust public awareness campaigns.
Dedicated security experts remain committed to safeguarding the tax system and the public from evolving fraudulent schemes including the increasing use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) by scammers. HMRC remains vigilant and continues to monitor all emerging threats.
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The Moorgate tax team has vast and valuable experience dealing with HMRC and would be happy to help you with any tax query. Please do contact one of our tax experts if we can assist you with any area of your tax, whether personal or business related.