HMRC fraud and error taskforce to clawback Covid payments launches

The Government has launched a new HMRC fraud and error taskforce in a bid to recover overpayments made to UK taxpayers during the pandemic.

The £100 million  Taxpayer Protection Taskforce of 1,200 HMRC staff will combat fraud and aims to recover up to £1.5 billion from fraudulent or incorrect payments for the 2022/23 financial year. The HMRC is also working with enforcement bodies, including the National Investigation Service (NATIS), to investigate serious cases of fraud. So far, NATIS investigations have led to 49 arrests related to Bounce Back Loan Scheme fraud, while the Insolvency Service has achieved director disqualifications, bankruptcy restrictions, and company wind-ups.

The UK Government introduced an economic support package in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, providing almost £400 billion of support to protect tens of millions of jobs and millions of businesses across the country as the nation shut down. The Treasury said that as a result of these measures, the UK economy has returned to its pre-pandemic size quicker than expected and Britain’s economy is set to grow at the fastest rate in the G7 this year.

The furlough scheme, officially known as the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, provided £70 billion in financial support to help protect nearly 12 million jobs.

The Treasury said “On Bounce Back Loans, the government continues to work actively with the British Business Bank, lenders, and enforcement authorities to recover loans obtained fraudulently. This work has been supported by the Cabinet Office Counter Fraud Function to better identify the level and types of fraud against the scheme, helping lenders tackle fraud effectively.

“We are working with enforcement bodies including the National Investigation Service (NATIS) to investigate the most serious cases of fraud and we have always been clear that anyone who defrauds the scheme is at risk of prosecution.”

HMRC have already opened 13,000 one-to-one fraud and error enquiries and written to 75,000 people. So far it has stopped or recovered £743 million of overclaimed grants from 2020/21.