Category: General

People donate huge amounts to charities, to ensure charity work continues in the country. It has been estimated that almost £350,000 of charitable donations last year ended up in the pockets of criminals.

Government recently issued advice to reduce this activity. They said:

The vast majority of fundraising appeals and collections are genuine, however criminals can set up fake charities, or even impersonate well-known charitable organisations, to deceive victims.

https://www.apexaccountants.tax/hmrc-investigation/

Action Fraud has teamed up with the Charity Commission, the regulator and registrars of charities, and the Fundraising Regulator, the independent regulator of charitable fundraising in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, to help the public make sure their donations go to the right place this Christmas.

Clearly, this bogus activity represents just a small proportion of overall donations made to reputable charities, but donors should be wary. Further advice to donors included in their press release says:

• Make sure the charity is genuine before giving any financial information. Look for the registered charity number on their website. You can check the charity name and registration number at www.gov.uk/checkcharity;
• You can also check if a charity is registered with the Fundraising Regulator. All charities registered here have made a commitment to good fundraising practice;
• If you’re approached by a collector on the street or at your door, ask to see the collector’s ID badge. You can also check whether the collector has a licence to fundraise with the local authority, or has the consent of the private site owner;
• Don’t click on the links or attachments in suspicious emails, and never respond to unsolicited messages and phone calls that ask for your personal or financial details – even if it’s in the name of a charity
• To donate online, type in the address of the charity website yourself rather than clicking on a link. If in any doubt, contact the charity directly about donating;
• Be cautious when donating to an online fundraising page. Fake fundraising pages will often be badly written or have spelling mistakes. When donating to an online fundraising page, only donate to fundraising pages created by someone you know and trust.

After making these checks, if you think that a fundraising appeal or collection is fake, report it to Action Fraud online or by calling 0300 123 2040.

If you need any further advice feel free to contact us.

Beware from tax refund scams fraudsters are continuing to target taxpayers with scam emails in advance of the 31 January deadline for submission of Self-Assessment returns.  In fact, over the last year, HMRC received more than 846,000 reports about suspicious HMRC contact.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/phishing-and-bogus-emails-hm-revenue-and-customs-examples/phishing-emails-and-bogus-contact-hm-revenue-and-customs-examples

A number of these scams purport to tell taxpayers they are due a tax rebate or tax refund from HMRC and ask for bank or credit card details in order to send the refund. The fraudsters use various means to try and scam people including making contact by phone calls, texts or emails. In fact, fraudsters have been known to threaten victims with arrest or imprisonment if a bogus tax bill is not paid immediately.

Please visit our Tax Services page to know about our tax services.

HMRC’s dedicated Customer Protection team to identify and close down scams but is advising customers to recognise the signs to avoid becoming victims themselves. For example, genuine organisations like HMRC and banks will never contact customers asking for their PIN, password or bank details.

If you think you have received a suspicious call or email claiming to be from HMRC you are asked to forward the details to [email protected] and texts to 60599. If you have suffered financial loss you should contact Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or use their online fraud reporting tool.

If you are looking to know more about this, feel free to contact us.

The Help to Buy equity loans scheme is a government initiative for those who are either looking to buy their first home or are home movers on new-build homes in England with a purchase price of up to £600,000. The Help to Buy equity loans provide a low-interest loan towards the deposit. The loan is interest free for the first 5 years. New home buyers need a 5% deposit, and the government lends up to 20% of the value of the home (up to 40% for London).

The Help to Buy equity loan scheme has helped more than a quarter of a million people to buy a home. Since the start of the scheme on 1 April 2013, 272,852 property sales have been completed.

The government is also announcing an extra measure to protect existing customers who have experienced severe delays as a result of coronavirus.

Click here to know more about Tax planning services

The deadline for the homes to have been finished in order to comply with the equity loan scheme has been extended from 31 December 2020 to 28 February 2021 to ensure home buyers do not miss out if there has been a delay in construction due to the pandemic. The deadline for the legal completion of the sale will remain the same – 31 March 2021. The completion of sale deadline may be extended further to 31 May 2021 if a reservation was in place by 30 June 2020. These changes apply to the equity loans scheme in England and not to similar schemes in Northern Ireland, Scotland or Wales.

Separately, the government’s new Help to Buy scheme, which will replace the current scheme, will come into place from 1 April 2021 and run until March 2023 as planned and there are no plans for further extensions. The new scheme introduces property price caps and is restricted to first-time buyers only, supporting people onto the housing ladder.

If you are looking to know more about it; feel free to book a no-obligation call with us.

University students have been warned by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) that fraudsters are targeting them with a wave of fake tax scams.

HMRC is warning new students starting university that they could be targeted by scammers trying to steal their money and personal details.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/hmrc-urges-universities-to-warn-new-students-of-tax-scams-danger

As new students start the academic year they can be particularly vulnerable to tax scams. Coupled with an increase in remote working due to the pandemic can leave students particularly exposed to the work of fraudsters. Fake emails, which use university addresses in a bid to appear legitimate, may tell people that they are owed money and encourage them to send their personal details.

Many tax scams are directly targeting university students. Fraudulent emails and texts will regularly include links which take students to websites where their information can be stolen.

HMRC has written to universities, via Universities UK, asking them to help ensure their students know how to spot a scam and to raise awareness of this issue. These scams can offer fake tax refunds or help with claiming Covid-related financial support. HMRC has also seen frauds offering spurious support with reclaiming council tax, purporting to be from TV Licensing, the DVLA or ‘GovUK’.

Students can also be approached to act as ‘money mules’, with offers of reward to transfer funds through their own, genuine financial accounts, inadvertently laundering criminal funds.

Commenting on the warning, the Chief Executive of Universities UK, said:

‘The security and welfare of students is always a priority for universities. The message to students, at what is a particularly stressful time, is to remain vigilant and question anything that seems unusual. Any student who fears their account may have been misused is encouraged to speak to either university support services, their bank, or to the police via Action Fraud.’

If you are looking for more information; please book a call with us.

The Communities Secretary, Robert Jenrick, has announced that over 100 towns in England will each be given new funding for towns up to £1 million to kick start regeneration projects and give areas a boost.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/100-places-to-benefit-from-new-towns-fund

The funding to be received varies between £500k and £1m per town. The money will be available to help support projects such as new green spaces, the creation of pop-up businesses spaces, pedestrianising streets to encourage walking or cycling and creating new community hubs to support those living alone.

Projects such as Burton on Trent’s High Street regeneration, for which the town has been awarded £750,000, will see improvements to make the high street a more pleasant place to visit with new bus access and cycle lanes so the public can more easily visit.

In Newcastle-under-Lyme, the £1 million funding will boost the town’s regeneration plans, helping to demolish unloved buildings to make way for a new chapter in the town’s history.

These funds are part of the overall £3.6 billion Towns Fund commitment by government to ensure that spending is decentralised and gives power to local authorities on how they spend money to regenerate their areas. As part of the scheme, each area is receiving support to develop Town Deals – a vision and strategy to improve the local area.

This list consists of 45 of the 101 Towns Fund areas who have had their funding confirmed at part of Budget, announced by the Chancellor on Wednesday 3 March 2021. Funding equates to £1.02 billion in total.

The single-use plastic carrier bag charge came into effect in England on 5 October 2015. This introduced a minimum charge of 5p on single-use plastic carrier bag supplied by large shops (with over 250 employees) in England.

Since then single-use carrier bags are no longer given away free when buying goods from large shops. Shoppers who bring their own bags or use thicker, reusable ‘bags for life’ do not need to pay the charge.

The new law has been very effective, reducing the use of single-use carrier bags by over 95% in the main supermarkets and raising over £180m for good causes.

A consultation on extending the remit of the scheme and increasing the minimum charge was launched in December 2018. The government response to the consultation was published recently following delays caused by purdah restrictions and re-prioritisation in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. The government has now confirmed that the charge is to be increased to 10p and extended to include all retailers from April 2021. It is thought that this new charge will apply to almost all plastic bags given out by businesses across England.

The government is also introducing restrictions on the supply of plastic straws, stirrers and plastic-stemmed cotton buds. These additional restrictions will be introduced in October 2020.

Due to coronavirus disruption, it is currently taking up to six weeks to renew or replace a passport online. It can take even longer if you apply by post or if applying for a first adult passport. Their offices and the premium and fast track services are currently closed.

However, you may be able to get a passport urgently to travel for compassionate reasons or work, or to prove your identity. For example, if you are applying for a job, mortgage or benefits.

Compassionate reasons to travel include:

• you or someone you care for needs urgent medical treatment in another country
• a family member or friend in another country is seriously ill or has died

Valid reasons for urgent travel to another country could apply if, for example, you work:

• for an airline or haulage company
• offshore, for example on a rig
• for government or local government and you’re doing business abroad
• in healthcare
• for social services and you need to travel with children
• for the armed forces or the police

You can pay for a faster service if you need a passport within the next 3 weeks.

You need to book a passport office appointment and pay online. You can book an appointment up to 3 weeks in advance.

Check current coronavirus (COVID-19) travel advice before travelling. If your passport application is successful, it does not mean you’re currently allowed to travel.

The Government Legal Department (GLD) is warning that its general enquiry number (020 7210 8500) and switchboard number (020 7210 3000) are being used by fraudsters to try and extract money from members of the public.

In most of the reported cases, the fraudsters claim they are calling from the GLD or HMRC, with the GLD enquiry line number showing in the caller ID. The callers are usually very aggressive on the phone, threatening members of the public that if they do not pay a certain amount of money, the police will arrest them. The calls are NOT being made by GLD or HMRC and are calls being made from numbers that have been effectively hijacked by fraudsters.

The GLD has confirmed that they never make outbound calls from their enquiry line or switchboard number. The GLD will also never ask you for your bank details or to pay money over the phone. If you receive a call of the type described above, please hang up and report full details of the scam by email to: [email protected]. When making your report, please ask for it to be associated with report reference NFRC200803859141.

If you’ve been a victim of a scam and suffered financial loss, you should call Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 immediately. Recipients of suspicious emails claiming to be from HMRC should also forward details to [email protected] and suspicious texts to 60599.

The Cabinet Secretary, with the approval of the Prime Minister, has appointed Susanna McGibbon as the new Treasury Solicitor, HM Procurator General and Permanent Secretary, Government Legal Department (GLD).

Lost Your Tax Reference Number?

Your unique taxpayer reference (UTR) is the primary identifier for tax purposes. The number is also sometimes known as your taxpayer number or tax reference number and should be used whenever you contact HMRC or when you file your tax returns. The UTR is a unique 10 digit code. You automatically receive a UTR when you set yourself up to file Self-Assessment tax returns or form a limited company.

If you have mislaid your UTR you should be able to find the number on previous tax returns and other documents from HMRC, such as notices to file a return and payment reminders. You can also find your UTR in your HMRC online account.

If you are unable to locate your UTR you can call the Self-Assessment helpline to request your UTR on 0300 200 3310. The lines are usually open from Monday to Friday: 8am to 8pm, Saturday: 8am to 4pm and Sunday: 9am to 5pm. However, the hours are currently shortened due to impact of coronavirus and the lines are open Monday to Friday only from 8am to 4pm.

If you have mislaid your Corporation Tax UTR this can be requested online and HMRC will send a copy of the number by post to the company’s registered address as shown on Companies House.

Unique Taxpayer Reference numbers (or UTRs) are 10-digit codes that uniquely identify you or your business. They’re used by HMRC whenever they’re dealing with your tax. From claiming a tax refund to filing a Self Assessment tax return, your UTR will make sure the taxman always knows who he’s talking to.

The government has announced the launch of a new trial scheme that will pay people on low incomes who need to people self isolating and are unable to work from home. The trial will start in Blackburn, Darwen, Pendle, and Oldham to ensure the process works. The trial scheme started on Tuesday, 1 September 2020. The scheme is then expected to be rolled out in other areas of England with high coronavirus infection rates.

The new scheme will only be made available to people currently receiving either Universal Credit or Working Tax Credit. The benefits payment will allow for payments of up to £182 to be made to people who have tested positive for COVID-19 and their contacts.

Individuals who test positive with the virus will receive £130 for their 10-day period of self-isolation. Other members of their household, who have to self-isolate for 14 days, will be entitled to a payment of £182.

Non-household contacts advised to people self isolating through NHS Test and Trace will also be entitled to a payment of up to £182, tailored to the individual length of their isolation period. Any payments made under the scheme will not reduce any other benefits for the recipient.

The scheme will help support people on low incomes who are unable to work from home while self-isolating, either after testing positive, or after being identified by NHS Test and Trace as living in the same household as – or coming into contact with – someone who has tested positive.