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  • Illegal cigarettes seized at Belfast Port

    10.8 million cigarettes seized at Belfast port

    HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is investigating after 10.8 million illegal cigarettes were seized at Belfast Port. The cigarettes, worth around £5.3million in unpaid taxes, were seized by HMRC working alongside Border Force, on 20 June, 2023. The cigarettes were found packed in cardboard boxes inside a container that had been scanned by Border Force. No arrests have been made.

  • Tax gap holds steady at 4.8%

    Tax gap holds steady at 4.8%

    The amount of unpaid UK tax has remained at an all-time low of 4.8%, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) revealed today (22 June).

  • Cigarette smuggling gang jailed for 26 years

    Cigarette smuggling gang jailed for 26 years

    A gang caught red-handed with millions of counterfeit cigarettes at a Lincolnshire farm has been handed prison sentences totalling 26 years.
    The small village of Midville, in East Lindsey, was the unlikely base for the gang who were caught with more than 6.5millon cigarettes, worth more than £1.8m in evaded duty.
    Officers from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) arrested Marcin Kopec, 44, and Woj

  • (L-R) The ringleaders, Francis Devlin & Paul McStravick

    Twenty-seven sentenced in Northern Ireland’s biggest ever tax fraud case

    The ringleaders of a gang who triggered Northern Ireland’s biggest ever tax probe have been jailed thanks to secretly recorded conversations in a bugged accountant’s office. The decade-long investigation into the £5 million tax fraud ended yesterday with prison sentences issued to gang leaders 58-year-old Francis Devlin and 56-year-old Paul McStravick for a combined total of eight years.

  • HMRC gives offshore customers chance to come clean

    HMRC gives offshore customers chance to come clean

    UK residents who were named in the leaked Pandora Papers are being given the chance to correct their tax affairs.
    HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is writing to UK residents named in the files of 14 offshore financial service providers. These providers specialise in companies, trusts, and foundations in low, or no tax, jurisdictions.
    The letters, which started going out this month, warn recip

  • HMRC issues £3.2 million in money  laundering penalties

    HMRC issues £3.2 million in money laundering penalties

    Hundreds of businesses fined a total of £3.2 million for breaching anti-money laundering rules have been named by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).
    The 240 supervised businesses named today were fined between 1 July and 31 December 2022 by HMRC for breaching Money Laundering Regulations aimed at preventing criminals from exploiting illicit cash.
    Certain types of business are required to regist

  • HMRC’s app available in Welsh

    HMRC’s app available in Welsh

    Updates have been delivered to the HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) app, giving access to most services on the platform in Welsh for the first time.

  • Birmingham employers urged to check National Minimum Wage payments as £775,000 in arrears is paid to workers

    Birmingham employers urged to check National Minimum Wage payments as £775,000 in arrears is paid to workers

    Almost 2,800 workers in Birmingham were underpaid by £775,000 last year, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has revealed as it approaches local employers to help prevent errors in salaries.
    HMRC is writing to more than 8,000 employers in the Birmingham area to highlight common mistakes around the National Minimum Wage (NMW) and National Living Wage (NLW) - offering practical support to help them get

  • HMRC issues scam warning to tax credits customers

    HMRC issues scam warning to tax credits customers

    Tax credit claimants should be on their guard against fraudsters, as HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) warns of the latest tactics being employed by scammers.
    HMRC has issued a new alert, providing details of a number of new scams reported that aim to trick people into handing over money or personal information. Criminals use deadlines – like the tax credits renewal deadline on 31 July – to target

  • Almost £600,000 in arrears paid to workers in Bradford for National Minimum Wage breaches

    Almost £600,000 in arrears paid to workers in Bradford for National Minimum Wage breaches

    Workers in the Bradford area are being urged to check they are not missing out on wages, after £560,000 worth of arrears was paid out in the city.
    The sum has been issued to 485 workers in Bradford who were underpaid the National Minimum Wage or National Living Wage in the 2022 to 2023 financial year, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has announced.
    The National Living Wage is the minimum wage f

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