HOOK, LINE AND FINE FOR SOUTH EAST ANGLERS TAX AGENCY STOPPED FROM OPERATING BY HMRC

A company which charged taxpayers significant sums to make claims for tax refunds has been stopped from operating.

Environment Agency fisheries patrol officers, including a voluntary bailiff, at various locations across the South East, have caught and successfully prosecuted 7 anglers for illegal fishing. One angler has also been prosecuted for the theft of live fish.

In the case of the fish theft Environment Agency fishery enforcement officers responded to a report of fish theft in progress at Southampton Common via the Environment Agency’s incident hotline (0800 80 70 60). The reporter had provided a good description of the incident and those involved, which was extremely helpful in securing a successful prosecution.

Alexandru Lacob of Southampton had taken (by rod and line) 7 roach and 3 carp. Lacob had concealed the fish in a bag next to his seat. On inspection, 3 of the fish showed signs of life and were returned to the lake by officers whilst the remaining dead fish were seized for evidence. As well as fishing without a fishing rod licence, Lacob demonstrated a high level of dishonesty when speaking to officers. Lying about having a licence and claiming not to know anything about the fish.

In total, all 7 anglers from the South East netted over £3,233 in fines including costs and surcharges. Between the fishermen, the total money to be paid is more than 107 times the amount of money than if they’d just bought an annual fishing licence, or 538 times more than a single £6 day fishing licence.

Kye Jerrom, a senior enforcement officer with the Environment Agency, said:

We hope the penalties received by these illegal anglers will act as a deterrent to anyone who is thinking of fishing without a valid Environment Agency fishing licence or breaking the fisheries laws we have in place across England.

Our fisheries enforcement officers rou- tinely carry out fishing licence checks, and we urge anyone with information about illegal fishing to contact us on 0800 807060.

All the money raised through the sales of fishing licences is re-invested into improving and maintaining fisheries and angling. Last year the Environment Agency invested nearly £22 million of fishing licence income improving all types of fisheries, including lakes and rivers, for anglers.

Any angler aged 13 or over, fishing on a river, canal or still water needs a licence to fish. A 1-day licence costs from just £6, and an annual licence currently costs from just £30 (concessions available). Junior licences are free for 13 – 16-year-olds. Licences are available from www.gov.uk/get-a-fishinglicence or by calling the Environment Agency on 0344 800 5386 between 8am and 6pm, Monday to Friday.

The Environment Agency enforcement teams continue to make sure anglers comply with regulations to protect fish stock. In 2021 to 2022, fisheries enforcement officers checked just over 41,000 fishing licences and successfully prosecuted nearly 730 anglers for fishing without a licence.

Following cases brought by the Environment Agency in January and February 2023 at Southampton, Swindon, Barkingside and Hastings Magistrates, the courts have ordered 7 men pay a combined total £1,673 in fines, £945 in costs and £615 victim surcharges. A total of £3,233. The offenders were:

In Southampton

• Ryan King, 26, of Woking was caught fishing in the close season on 28 April 2022 at Woodmill Pool, Southampton. Fined £389.

• Alexandru Lacob 33, of Southampton was caught fishing without a licence and for stealing fish on 26 June 2022 at Southampton Common Lake, Southampton. Fined £751.

In Kent

• Lee Bartholomew, 52, of Plumstead, London was caught fishing without a licence on 24 July 2022 at Frant Lakes, Tunbridge Wells. Fined £443.

• Danny Ashbee-Mullane, 29, of Tonbridge, Kent was caught fishing without a licence on 30 July 2022 at Monk Lakes, Staplehurst, Kent. Fined £443.

• Nick Powell 33, of Greenhithe, Kent was caught fishing without a licence on 25 September 2022 at Monk Lakes, Staplehurst, Kent. Fined £443.

• Oliver Page, 33, of Tonbridge, Kent was caught fishing without a licence on 30 July 2022 at Monk Lakes, Staplehurst, Kent. Fined £443.

In London

• Emil-Gabriel Irimla, 34, of Merton, London was caught leaving a rod and line with bait or hook in the water unattended on 24 September 2022 at Ravensbury Park, River Wandle, Morden. Fined £321.

Southampton Common Lake is a public fishery, owned and managed by Southampton City Council. Free to fish, all you need is an Environment Agency rod licence. This is a really popular fishing spot which has benefited from rod licence income in the past (habitat works and fish stocking). Having free fishing in the middle of a city is rare but makes fishing accessible to all and is why the Environment Agency take incidents of this nature very seriously. The fishery is well signed and regularly patrolled.

Tax Credits Ltd (TCL) can no longer trade as a repayment agent after HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) found they had committed serious antimoney laundering breaches.

As a result of breaching the regulations, which are predominately designed to prevent businesses being exploited by criminals to launder money, it is now a criminal offence for TCL to trade as a tax repayment agent.

The move comes weeks after HMRC outlined greater protections for customers using repayment agents.

Taxpayers can use repayment agents to make claims for repayment of tax, and while many customers are happy with the service they receive, a large number of taxpayers have complained about the lack of transparency in agents’ processes for signing up clients and high charges for using their services.

Angela MacDonald, HMRC’s Deputy Chief Executive and Second Permanent Secretary, said:

TCL have ignored their responsibilities under the anti-money laundering measures designed to protect us all from financial crime.

We will not allow a small number of bad actors to tarnish the reputation of the whole tax agent sector.

It is crucial taxpayers understand the entitlements they can claim directly from HMRC and are properly protected from the misleading tactics used by some repayment agents. The greater protections we’re bringing in will help to stop people unwit- tingly losing their hard-earned money to misleading agents. Around 11,000 TCL clients, whose claims had been paused during investigations into TCL, will now receive their tax refund directly from HMRC. HMRC will contact all affected clients by the end of March to explain their refund. The refunds will be made automatically –customers do not need to contact HMRC to receive their payment. In response to public concern, HMRC recently consulted on how to protect taxpayers using repayment agents and unveiled a package of measures last month, which included stopping the use of legally-binding ‘assignments’ as part of claiming an Income Tax repayment, improving agent standards and a requirement for repayment agents to register with HMRC.

HMRC urges anyone thinking of using a tax repayment agent to carefully consider their options when appointing a tax adviser to act on their behalf. Taxpayers are urged to do their research before committing to anything, and are reminded that they, not the tax agent, are ultimately responsible for their own tax affairs.

Taxpayers are advised to be particularly careful when clicking on online ads as some unscrupulous repayment agents have made their customer sign-up pages appear to be mere requests for more information.

Anyone who thinks they are owed a tax rebate can make claims direct with HMRC via GOV.UK; they can do this for free and will receive 100% of any refund.

If a taxpayer can show a tax repayment agent has made an invalid claim with HMRC on their behalf, they can contact HMRC.