With it being so close to the beginning of the new tax year it is no surprise at all that HMRC is once again grabbing headlines as a result of their continual bumbling antics. The latest fiasco pertains to last years shock tax demands when around 1.4 million people were sent a letter by HMRC requesting they pay back underpaid tax. The amount totalled a staggering £3.8 billion

The Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) has apparently urged HMRC to better enforce the rules surrounding IR35. The aim of IR35 is to tackle tax avoidance by contractors operating as de facto employees. An interim report has been carried out to determine possible solutions and the results or some what contradictory to each other.

HMRC has warned against fraudsters who are targeting taxpayers with thousands of scam tax rebate emails. The fraudsters have been sending emails which inform the recipient that they are due a rebate before asking for bank or credit card details so the fictitious sum can be paid out. People who fall for this scam will undoubtedly have their accounts cleared out.

During the second half of 2010 there was a downward trend of recruitment agencies being placed into the hands of administrators. In the fourth quarter 13 agencies went into administration compared which is a 28% drop from 2009. Despite this drop recruiters are being encouraged to remain vigilant in the face of client problems.

It has been announced this week that HMRC are planning on targeting self-employed individuals who may be making fraudulent tax credit claims. They have sent out 12,000 letters to these suspected individuals which outline their plans on tackling this issue. These people will be asked to provide extra evidence to back up their claims.

ver the next four years more than a dozen employee rights laws are due to be put in place by the Coalition. This year, seven of these changes will be put in place including the European Union’s Agency Workers Directive which will give agency workers the same rights as permanent staff after 12 weeks on a single assignment.

Ever since the credit crunch bit down hard on society, the bite marks were left deeper than ever in the construction sector. As people became more desperate for work and the applications to prospective employers began to flood in a skills gap was exposed

Recently the construction union UCATT has called for an urgent investigation into payroll companies who may be causing the Inland Revenue a loss of millions in unpaid National Insurance contributions, a direct result of false self employment. UCATT’s concerns and accusations gained momentum following an undercover report carried out by the Daily Mirror who successfully exposed some questionably run payroll companies who have a blatant willingness to flout the existing laws and rules set in place by the Revenue.