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HMRC’s revenue falls by billions due to pandemic
HMRC saw a drop of almost £30 billion in tax revenues in the latest financial year because of the pandemic, according to its annual accounts.
HMRC said the drop was due to the ‘unprecedented economic circumstances caused by COVID-19, and because pandemic restrictions meant HMRC had to reduce its compliance activity’.
HMRC reported that it delivered £60.7 billion in grants through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS).
Confusion over Making Tax Digital (MTD) letters
HMRC is sending out two different letters about Making Tax Digital; one regarding VAT which is a reminder to some businesses that they must comply from April 2022. The other is about MTD for Income Tax Self-assessment which isn’t mandatory until April 2024.
Completion of tax returns
Last year, HMRC revealed that more than 2,700 self-assessment tax returns were filed on Christmas Day with thousands using the festive period to get their documents in order ahead of the annual deadline on 31stJanuary.
The peak time for completing tax returns was between 2pm and 3pm on 25th December, with more than 200 taxpayers pressing send on their online form during that 60-minute period.
HMRC said that more than 10.7m customers completed their 2019-20 tax return by 31st January 2021.