HMRC Takes Payments from Salaries, (APNs)

HMRC has announced plans to take up to £17,000 directly from individuals’ salaries from April 2015. Currently, HMRC can take a limit of £3,000 directly from individuals’ pay packets who it believes has under paid tax.

The limits will be salary dependent, with the £3,000 limit applicable to those earning less than £30,000, and the higher £17,000 limit applicable to those earning more than £90,000. HMRC has said that the payments it proposes to take will be spread out over a 12 month period.

HMRC has had the power to take tax deficits from peoples’ wages since 1944. However, the latest proposals follow a continued trend of what many commentators describe as increased confrontation and intrusion in its continued clampdown on tax avoidance.

Recently, the Government consulted on proposals to recover unpaid tax directly from peoples’ bank or building society accounts without the permission of the court. The proposed focus of this strategy will be those who have been contacted by HMRC on at least four occasions and who owed at least £1,000.

Another HMRC strategy which will be enforced are Accelerated Payment Notices (APNs) which will be sent to individuals and businesses that it believes have avoided paying tax. A key term of the APN is that the disputed amount of tax must be paid up front, within 90 days, before cases are heard at a tax tribunal. Failure to do so may result in prosecution and additional penalties.

HMRC’s proposals have been met with criticism with some suggesting the Revenue is becoming all powerful.

It is clear, however, that HMRC will continue to aggressively target those it suspects of tax avoidance through different strategies. The time to act is now before HMRC make contact with you directly and launch a full investigation.

If you believe that you may be on HMRC’s radar you should seek advice from a tax investigations professional at your earliest convenience. There are a number of voluntary tax disclosure facilities available to you, and we have considerable experience in guiding individuals through them successfully.

If you receive an Accelerated Payment Notice from HMRC you will have no option other than to pay up.

For more information and to speak to a tax investigations professional in complete confidence call us on 0113 387 5670 or fill out an Enquiry Form .