Warnings issued regarding self assessment scams
29 Nov 2021
We are hearing, on many occasions, of warnings regarding tax-related scams for taxpayers completing their 2020/21 tax returns. It is important to be on your guard and stay vigilant.
There have been nearly 800,000 tax scams that were reported in the last year. It is said that fraudsters use self assessment to attempt to steal money or personal information from taxpayers.
If you are a self assessment taxpayer, then expect either an email or SMS message that will prompt you to think about how you intend to pay your tax bill.
With this prompt, HMRC are aiming to warn taxpayers 'not to be taken in' by malicious emails, phone calls or texts, and to not mistake them for genuine communications.
Scams come in many forms. Some threaten immediate arrest for tax evasion, others offer a tax rebate. If you are in any doubt whether the email, phone call or text is genuine, then please visit HMRC's website, where you can check and find out how to report these scams. This can be found here: https://bit.ly/3CO3TP1
You can forward suspicious emails claiming to be from HMRC to phishing@hmrc.gov.uk and texts to 60599.
The self assessment deadline is 31 January 2022.