- Individuals wishing to report tax avoidance or evasion to HMRC may do so through an online form on its website. HMRC’s form has strict character limits and HMRC advises not to provide supporting information. Instead, HMRC advises that it will contact individuals if additional information is needed.
- Getnick Law’s experienced counsel can guide individuals in how to prepare an effective report to HMRC.
HMRC Programme Threshold
Notably, certain of these provisions mirror key elements of the IRS Whistleblower Program that have made it a success and that are likely to do the same for HMRC’s programme. They include:
- Threshold: HMRC’s tax collection threshold of £1.5 million to qualify for a reward will allow the agency to cull out less significant matters and focus instead on cases with the potential for high returns. This will allow investigative resources to be allocated most efficiently and effectively.
- Floor and Ceiling on Rewards: HMRC’s range of rewards between 15% and 30% is crucial to incentivising informants and their counsel to participate in the programme, while ensuring the reward is limited to protect the public purse.
- No Caps on Rewards: Beyond the percentage limits, there will be no cap on the size of the reward, i.e., the greater the recovery, the greater the reward. This has proven to be key to the success of the IRS Whistleblower Program in incentivising high-value claims.
HMRC is poised to embrace this programme and take full advantage of the information and resources which will be coming its way. HMRC has a long and accomplished history of successfully working with informants. Under the new HMRC programme, an enhanced category of informants backed by their counsel’s resources will emerge. Once embraced by the highly experienced HMRC investigators, the results should exceed anything seen to date.