HMRC hands out £571m in fines
Penalties handed to taxpayers by HMRC have jumped by nearly a third in a year, from £445m to £571m. The increase was driven by the tax office increasingly clamping down on tax avoidance as part of its efforts to make up for revenue lost during the pandemic. According to the Public Accounts Committee, the Government has lost at least £15bn in tax-related fraud and error due to Covid. While HMRC took a more lenient stance towards individuals falling behind on their tax affairs in the wake of the coronavirus crisis, it has started to come down harder on those who fail to pay.