HMRC increases officers to target gangmasters
The number of specialist officers dealing with labour providers who fail to pay tax will be doubled, HMRC has announced
THE TAXMAN is to double the number of specialist officers cracking down on labour providers who fail to pay tax.
HM Revenue & Customs has said it will increase the number of officers dealing with the sector from 100 to 200. It cited a number of compliance problems in the sector, including bogus supply chains, repeated liquidations, failure to keep business records and bogus VAT registrations.
David Gauke, exchequer secretary to the Treasury, said: “This government has invested £900m in HMRC to crack down on people who break the rules. Expanding these teams will help make sure that we bring in the additional money that the UK needs.
“They aim to stop tax losses and increase tax yields by more than half a billion pounds over the next four years. Gangmasters who think they can exploit their staff and the tax system need to think again.”
The additional 100 officers will also offer free health checks to businesses to help them use legitimate labour providers and tackle fraud within the industry.