HMRC Connect

[xoggoth]

Dunno if you have all read about this:

HMRC Connect – how the taxman is spying on you - THP

[ladymuck]

Hadn't heard of the system but I did know there were multiple data sharing arrangements to capture unearned income and such.

[sadkingbilly]

and this is news to people?
where on earth have you all been?

[cojak]

and this is news to people?
where on earth have you all been?

Quite. It’s been like this for years. HMRC has calculated my savings interest down to the last penny for years. Last year I was about to complain that they’d overcharged me before I noticed that I’d left an account out of my calculations.

[vetran]

Quite. It’s been like this for years. HMRC has calculated my savings interest down to the last penny for years. Last year I was about to complain that they’d overcharged me before I noticed that I’d left an account out of my calculations.

Burn the tax evader!!!!

I bet you aren't 'working people!

I suppose when they get rid of cash, drug dealers and tradesmen working cash in hand are in trouble.

[cojak]

Burn the tax evader!!!!

I bet you aren't 'working people!

I suppose when they get rid of cash, drug dealers and tradesmen working cash in hand are in trouble.

Actually I am, but I'm so small now that I'm a sole trader.

(And they still charged the correct tax, I just hadn't accounted for all the income in my spreadsheet.)

[northernladuk]

Hadn't heard of the system but I did know there were multiple data sharing arrangements to capture unearned income and such.

Yup. Over 10 years ago I worked on a gig to move some gov departments out of expensive hosting and in to the cloud and one of the requirements was for DWP, Land registery and Dfe to share data. There were other similar projects going on or starting but those were three I was connected to. There was further work to facilitate the sharing of actual data but once it was in the cloud and sharing was possible I left. I'd assumed they'd been doing this for much of the last decade and it's a given they were putting a lot of time and money in to improving it.

Landlords and undeclared income was always the simple example of how data sharing would benefit the gov during the project. Check land registry for multiple titles, check tax return for rental income and if a person had more than one title but no rental income have a deeper sniff. Seemed a no brainer to me at that time and that's a super simplistic example. Funny how they always use landlords in these examples though. Maybe coincidence, topical or an easy catch. Anyone who has a hole in their bum should be able to guess they've put a huge amount of effort in increasing that capability.

[vetran]

Recently social landlords have finally started checking tenants across county borders and find some people present in one county for a social rent while owning houses elsewhere.

[FIERCE TANK BATTLE]

The number of people I've met that bought themselves a nice company car and claimed the VAT back when they're clearly a WFH contractor that has 0 business use is staggering, I am sure before long they will all get a nice tax bill and a juicy fine. It seems like compared to stupid IR35 investigations this is something they could find out effortlessly.

[xoggoth]

Wonder how extensive their checks are. I'm a retired old fart but did make a payment to my account from my small business recently. Would they sieze on that without checking that I haven't claimed my expenses for a few years?