HMRC is advising taxpayers to remain cautious of tax related scams which have almost doubled in the past 12 months. Mike Fell, HMRC’s Head of Cyber Security has said that the coronavirus pandemic had given criminals a “fresh hook for their activity”, with more than 460 COVID financial support scams detected by HMRC since early 2020, mostly by text message.

In July 2021, HMRC published a webpage to help taxpayers check that the contact they have received is genuinely from HMRC https://www.gov.uk/guidance/check-genuine-hmrc-contact-that-uses-more-than-one-communication-method. It also urges taxpapers to report potential scammer activity. If you are concerned about communication from HMRC, please do not hesitate to get in touch and we will assist in validating the authenticity.