U.K Tax Authorities Launch Investigations Into 13000 Potential Cases Of Fraud In Availing Coronavirus Wage Support Scheme

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is investigating 13,000 cases of potential fraud and other breach of rules related to the use of the government’s coronavirus furlough scheme, self employment income support scheme, and the “eat out to help out” scheme, Financial Times reported.

HMRC has opened the probes in order to protect or recover funds that were lost to fraud, tax avoidance and evasion and other breaches of the rules.

HMRC opened 12,828 probes up to the end of March, with the largest proportion (7384) relating to the use of the government furlough scheme.

A spokesperson for HMRC said: “It is vital we support businesses to recover by ensuring a level playing field so the majority are not undercut by the few who tried to cheat the system.

“We are taking tough action to tackle fraudulent behaviour. We have now opened more than 12,000 inquiries into claimants we suspect may have kept more than they were entitled to. We have also begun a handful of criminal investigations.”

During his March budget speech, Chancellor Rishi Sunak had announced that Treasury would invest £100m into a specialist taskforce to tackle fraud across all Covid-19 support packages in the March budget.

Under the furlough scheme, the U.K government pays most of the wages of people who cannot work, or whose employers cannot afford to pay them. Up till recently government paid 80% of wages, with no mandatory contribution from employers.

Furlough is planned to end completely on 30 September. The latest available data showed that 3.4m people were still on furlough at the end of April.

Last week, the U.K government scaled back coronavirus job retention scheme. Employers will now have to pay 10% of wages for furloughed workers, with the government paying employers another 70% of wages up to a maximum cap.