HMRC

The mastermind behind a seven-strong gang who set up 90 bogus companies to steal more than £800,000 in a VAT and car finance fraud has been jailed for six years.

Derby man Shahid Mohammad led the gang in the fraud which included a fake recruitment firm to steal identities. His co-defendants were handed suspended prison sentences.

A group that established 90 fraudulent companies has received sentences totalling more than 10 years.

Derby resident Shahid Mohammad led the group, creating front companies including a fake recruitment firm, in an attempt to steal over £800k through VAT and car finance scams.

Tax Policy Associates (TPA) has drawn attention to a form of VAT fraud which exploits companies which routinely receive VAT refunds. Fraudsters operate the scheme by submitting a paper form VAT484 (which is used to notify HMRC of changes to a VAT-registered business’s contact, bank or VAT return date details) purportedly on behalf of the company, changing the company’s bank details. HMRC process the form and issue the refund direct to the fraudulent bank account. TPA reports that this has already affected at least three FTSE 100 companies and an unknown number of smaller businesses.

https://www.taxjournal.com/articles/vat-refund-fraud-targets-businesses

Two brothers have been jailed after trying to steal £1m in a film tax fraud operation.

Craig Rees, 50 and Carl Rees, 52, from Warwickshire submitted inflated or “completely made up” tax relief claims to HM Revenue and Customs, the authority said.

Form VAT 484 has been used in fraudulent attempts to gain access to businesses’ VAT repayments.

A business can update its VAT details with HMRC online or using paper form VAT 484. This includes the business’ contact information, return dates and bank details. HMRC has reported that VAT 484 has been used in fraudulent attempts to gain access to businesses’ VAT repayments. HMRC is taking action to address this issue, including writing to businesses to confirm changes made to their details since January 2024.

Brothers who tried to steal £1 million in a ‘staggering and audaciously dishonest’ film tax fraud have been jailed for a total of 14 years.

Craig Rees, 50, and his 52-year-old brother Carl submitted fraudulent Film Tax Relief (FTR) and VAT claims to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

There have been recent press reports, based on data received by Bureau of Investigative Journalism, that the number of civil enquiries undertaken by the Fraud Investigation Service (FIS) into offshore, corporate and wealthy has halved in five years.

This may be a concern, but it is important to understand FIS’s role in HMRC’s compliance’s activities. Originally a creation of the former Inland Revenue, FIS is an elite specialist unit tasked with undertaking civil and criminal enquiries. The civil enquiries were conducted under Code of Practice 9 (COP 9) where serious fraud was suspected and Code of Practice 8 where COP 9 was not considered appropriate.

A joint statement from Police Scotland and HMRC said they 'will not tolerate' the sale of illegal alcohol.

A haul of suspected illegal beer that is equivalent to 132,000 pints has been seized at a ferry port in Cairnryan.

HMRC confirmed that around 75,000 litres of “illicit” beer was seized between February 23 and 28 following a joint operation between Police Scotland and the Serious Organised Crime Taskforce HMRC.

https://news.stv.tv/west-central/132000-pints-of-suspected-illegal-beer-seized-at-cairnryan-port

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ) and the Observer reported recently on the fall in HMRC’s civil investigations into tax fraud. According to figures obtained by the TBIJ via a freedom of information request, HMRC’s Fraud Investigation team followed up over 37,000 leads in 2018/19, but this had reduced to just over 21,000 in 2022/23. The data also reveals the number of civil cases taken by HMRC fell from 17,424 to 12,584 across the same period.

https://www.taxjournal.com/articles/hmrc-s-civil-fraud-investigations-fall-by-nearly-half

The ex-Formula One owner agreed to pay over £650 million to settle a case in October.

A more than half-billion pound tax settlement for former Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone made him the second-biggest tax payer in the UK last year, the Sunday Times Tax List has suggested.

https://www.shropshirestar.com/news/uk-news/2024/01/26/bernie-ecclestones-fraud-settlement-made-him-2023s-second-biggest-tax-payer/