Furlough, fraud and the FIS

Twenty episodes ago, in early summer last year, our Taxing Matters podcast focused on the newly emerging risk of furlough fraud. Now, nearly a year on (and three iterations of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme later) David Francis, Head of Tax Dispute Resolution at Grant Thornton, joins us to discuss this important and evolving topic.

At the outset, a key concern was whether the speed with which the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme was set up might create a situation where innocent but incorrect, or fraudulent, claims would be submitted to HMRC. With an estimated 5 to 10% of all furlough claims, or approximately £3.5bn, falsely or incorrectly claimed, the Government has provided £100m of additional funding to HMRC's Fraud Investigation Services (FIS) to investigate suspected discrepancies. 

David discusses the tools FIS have at their disposal and the action HMRC is taking to uncover fraudulent claims – and offers some pertinent advice to businesses who may have concerns about the claims they have made.

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If you would like to discuss any of the matters raised in this episode, please contact taxingmatters@rpc.co.uk.

All information is correct at the time of recording. Taxing Matters is not a substitute for legal advice. Opinions of the speakers are their own and do not necessarily express the views or opinions of RPC.