Even the most vigilant of us can be caught out by scammers – fake communication asking for information or money.
Scammers have recently been impersonating HMRC, fictitiously demanding tax payments or offering tax rebates. Messages have become increasingly sophisticated. Here’s an example:
The sender of this email (‘pom…@op…’) gives it away as a scam, as does how HMRC is presented … with the ‘@’ symbol. Scam phone calls and texts are also common. In the twelve months to September 2023, HMRC received more than 130,000 reports of tax scams, with over 80,000 of these offering tax rebates.
Scams offering tax rebates are tempting. Others threatening immediate arrest if details are not updated, or payments made, can frighten people into action. Fraudulent activity is rising as around 12 million people submit their self assessment tax returns before 31 January 2024.
‘Criminals are great pretenders who try and dupe people by sending emails, phone calls and texts which mimic government messages to make them appear authentic,’ says Myrtle Lloyd, HMRC’s director general for customer services. Unexpected contacts like these should set alarm bells ringing, so take your time and check HMRC scams advice on gov.uk.’
Have you received a suspicious email, text or call impersonating HMRC?
You can report any suspicious communications to HMRC:
- forward suspicious texts claiming to be from HMRC to 60599,
- forward emails to [email protected], and
- report tax scam phone calls to HMRC on gov.uk.
Many people will file a self assessment tax return for the first time this tax year, including:
- people who work in the gig economy, such as freelancers,
- those who have a second income from trading online, such as selling on e-commerce sites (such as eBay) or as a paid influencer on social media,
- anyone renting out property through sites like Airbnb, and
- high earners (over £50,000pa) claiming child benefit.
‘Communication from scammers can look genuine, especially if you haven’t liaised with HMRC before,’ explains Felicity Reader, Accounts Senior with re:accounts Chartered Accountants in Stevenage. ‘It’s best to be vigilant and report any scams you receive. In the last 12 months, HMRC removed 25,000 malicious web pages.’
There are two deadlines for submitting tax returns for the tax year 2022/23: 31 Oct 2023 for paper returns and 31 January 2024 for online returns.
Have you received information from scammers impersonating HMRC? Please use the above links to report it.
Are you worried about submitting your self assessment tax return? Talk to the tax experts at re:accounts without obligation or jargon. Our friendly team would love to natter about tax!
