Gang sentenced over Northern Ireland’s biggest tax fraud

The ringleaders of a gang who triggered Northern Ireland’s biggest-ever tax probe have been jailed thanks to secretly recorded conversations in a bugged accountant’s office.

The decade-long investigation into the £5 million tax fraud ended recently with prison sentences issued to the gang leaders, 58-year-old Francis Devlin and 56-year-old Paul McStravick, for a combined total of eight years.

HMRC mounted its biggest-ever operation in Northern Ireland to bring the 27-strong gang to justice.

The case was based on more than 260 hours of secretly recorded footage of gang members plotting the fraud from the Belfast accountancy firm Allen Tully & Co, where Devlin was a partner and the wider gang used as a base.

In one clip they were caught describing the office as an “Aladdin’s cave” for fraud investigators, while suggesting they would “go down in history” if they were ever caught.

Devlin and McStravick were jailed for four years each. Another 25 accomplices, most of whom knowingly allowed their personal details to be used as part of the

Tax gap holds steady at 4.8%

The amount of unpaid UK tax has remained at an all-time low of 4.8%, HMRC has revealed.

The annual Measuring Tax Gaps publication estimates the difference between the total amount of tax expected to be paid and the total amount of tax actually paid, which intended approach as a few weeks ago Rishi Sunak stated he wanted the UK to be the home of AI safety regulation. It will be interesting to see how regulators, companies, and individuals navigate the new challenges associated with AI over the coming months.

Anna Kate Phelan is Head of Product at Eintech

Taxwatch

Creating a last-minute rush

A three-month closure of HMRC’s Self-Assessment helpline will hamper taxpayers accessing help and advice, discourage people filing tax returns early and lead to greater pressure on both taxpayers and HMRC nearer the January deadline, the Association of Taxation Technicians (ATT) is warning.

HMRC has announced that the phonelines helping taxpayers with Self-Assessment enquiries will be closed from 12 June until 4 September, freeing up advisers to fraud, were handed suspended prison sentences. has remained the same as last year’s revised estimate of 4.8%.

The gang created a false audit trail that enabled clients to operate in the construction industry without paying tax or VAT.

They created 16 bogus companies and used 56 associated bank accounts to commit the fraud.

2006 to 4.8% in 2021 to 2022.

The reports, published annually, show a long-term reduction in the tax gap. Errors, a lack of sufficient care, evasion and criminal attacks all contribute to the tax gap, which has fallen from 7.5% in 2005 to

HMRC needs a rethink on penalties

Some 180,000 workers have been fined by HMRC, even though they don’t owe any tax!

It has been revealed that the UK tax office has dished out thousands of penalties to those earning below the income tax threshold.

take urgent calls on other lines and answer customer correspondence. The news came just weeks after HMRC launched a campaign encouraging people to file their tax returns earlier this year.

Alcohol Duty system changes

The biggest Alcohol Duty reforms in 140 years come into effect on 1 August 2023.

From that date, the system will become much simpler, taxing all alcoholic drinks based on their alcohol by volume (ABV). This

In all, some 184,000 workers were fined for failing to file a tax return last year. This is even though they do not earn enough to pay income tax (£12,570).

Tax Policy Associates said many of those affected are in severe financial difficulties and have been subject to extra fines and interest after not totally ‘getting’ what was going on. In some cases, the fines amount to thousands of pounds, which will take years to pay back.

In monetary terms, the most recent figures put the difference at £36 billion for the 2021 to 2022 tax year. This has increased from £31 billion in 2020 to 2021.

The tax gap has remained at 4.8% because estimated tax liabilities rose from £643 billion in 2020 to 2021 to £739 billion in 2021 to 2022.

TPA’s Dan Neidle said: “We believe the law and HMRC practice should be changed. Nobody filing late should be required to pay a penalty that exceeds the tax they owe.” replaces the current Alcohol Duty system, which consists of four separate taxes covering beer, cider, spirits, wine and made-wine.

HMRC said as well as making the system fairer the new system would allow it to be more responsive to new products entering the market as consumer tastes evolve.

Smaller producers, including pubs and restaurants, will benefit from reduced rates on qualifying products, such as draught beer and cider.

HMRC issues £3.2m money laundering penalties

Hundreds of businesses who have been fined a total of £3.2 million for breaching anti-money laundering rules have been named by HMRC. Some 240 supervised businesses, named in early June, were fined between 1 July and 31 December 2022.

In addition to the named businesses, another 179 companies received smaller fines totally more than £200,000 for rule breaches.