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Relaxing accounting rules and freeze on fast track recruitment

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Dinahmo Thu 02-Jun-22 09:47:20

It's much easier to blame the small SMEs and the self employed for fraud and to investigate them than it is to deal with the much larger "tax evasion" by the wealthier members of our society.

HMRC this week admitted that they had no idea of the level of funds held by British residents in offshore tax havens. A reliable estimate places the figure at £570 billion. This information has come from Tax Justice UK.

The comments in the Guardian article don't chime with what is actually happening. HMRC are pushing ahead with their plans for MTD, despite disagreement from most accountants and they are also suggesting more information on accounts filed at Companies House. The only people in favour are the software houses currently promoting their packages which, quite frankly, are not all they purport to be.

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OakDryad Tue 31-May-22 10:55:21

Today’s headlines: these two stories:

www.theguardian.com/business/2022/may/31/plans-to-relax-accounting-rules-for-small-uk-firms-risks-rise-in-economic

… critics said the government was exaggerating the burden on firms, and that the proposals risked weakening efforts to combat economic crime, given that small firms have been at the heart of a number of money laundering, fraud and tax evasion scandals.
When you look at many of the scandals involving money laundering, what do we find? Lots of small businesses, small companies, used for that purpose,” said Lord Prem Sikka, emeritus professor of accounting at the University of Essex and the University of Sheffield.

...and ...

www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/may/31/civil-service-fast-stream-graduate-scheme-paused-cut-roles

… where HMRC recruits and trains staff engaged in ... investigating fraud and tax evasion.

Lack of joined-up thinking or deliberately orchestrated?

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