How HMRC and FCA are tackling tax fraud and money laundering

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The city watchd dogs has unleashed a
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wave of tax crackdowns as part of a
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broader effort to double down on
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enforcement against invasion and fraud.
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That is according to data shared with
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citym from law firm Reed Smiths which
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revealed that the financial conduct
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authority that's the FCA the financial
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regulator carried out eight raids in
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2023 and another eight raids in 2024.
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The FCA might sound like a gray slightly
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straight lace regulatory body, but it
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does have the statutory rights to search
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premises and seize assets linked to an
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investigation. And it's been doing more
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of these raids. For comparisons, they
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have only done one in 2022. The most
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common suspected offenses, the
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regulatory investigations were fraud,
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money laundering, misleading advice, and
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insider dealings. Meanwhile, the number
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of HMRC raids have been going up and up
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with as many as 648 in the last
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financial year. It's all part of a big
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government push to close the tax gaps
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and is a politically convenient approach
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for Rich Reeves, who is overseeing the
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economy with a razor thin fiscal
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headroom. The most recent estimates
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indicated that the tax evasion cost the
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UK economy 5.5 billion pounds in 2022 to
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2023 financial year alone. And the
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problem is only getting worse with HMRC
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now being given the fresh criminal
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investigation powers to boost its
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enforcement capabilities. To give some
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scale here, as of 2018 to 2019, it
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employed 4,400 people in its fraud
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investigations team. In the 2029 to 2030
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tax year, that could be as high as
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5,400. And for context, the entire
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Treasury only employs around 3,100
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people. Official bodies will be given
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major firepower to tackle tax fraud. But
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with the problems being so endemic and
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so vast, can they really make a dent in
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financial crime? For everything you need
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to know about this story, stick with
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cityam.com.
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[Music]

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How HMRC and FCA are tackling tax fraud and money laundering

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