Submitted by
Sestini & Co | on Mon, 06/26/2023 - 10:50 | In
HMRC
As part of HMRC’s ongoing efforts to collect as much tax as possible, the government department will shortly be sending ‘nudge letters’ to people who are on the HMRC horizon but who do not currently file UK tax returns.
Data published this month (June 2023) in the annual Measuring Tax Gaps publication shows that gap between total amount of tax expected to be paid and the total amount of tax actually paid to HMRC remains extremely low for 2021-22. In fact, it is at an all-time low of 4.8%.
However, 4.8% still represents a significant amount of money, an estimated £35.8bn.
‘Nudge letter’ campaign
HMRC will continue its efforts to reduce the tax gap through a variety of measures, including the ‘nudge letter’ campaign which is due to be sent out in the post from end of June 2023 onwards.
The letters are described by HMRC as being part of an educational campaign, to aid people who may have made a mistake and not realised they should be submitting a return, or who have been adversely affected by health or other and are late in communicating with HMRC.
For the latter, such reasons may be accepted by HMRC as ‘reasonable excuses’ but it remains important to communicate with HMRC or to get in touch with us if we handle your tax affairs, or if you would like us to in the future.
If you should have sent in a tax return for 2021 – 2022, people who receive the ‘nudge letter’ will have until 18th August 2023 to submit.
Look out for your letter
Please note that genuine HMRC communications will only be sent by letter, they will not be sent by email or text, and requests will not be made by telephone call.
You are likely to receive such a letter if you:
- Are named as a Person of Significant Control
And/or
- Have submitted a tax return showing a significantly lower income than in previous years or significantly lower than others whose situation is comparable to yours
And/or
- Are not currently submitting tax returns but are known to HMRC, you may have submitted self-assessment tax returns in the past, for example.
Get in touch
If you receive a ‘nudge letter’ and want to check whether you should be completing a UK tax return, or to send us your tax return information, please get in touch with our UK tax team on info@sestiniandco.com or call us on 01761 241 861
You can trust our team of experts in UK and US tax to work with you in non-standard situations. We understand your context, circumstances and opportunities, working or living across multiple territories; deal with family trusts, or tax implications of divorcing or separating.
Whether you’re seeking a tax review, want to check your tax efficiency, improved tax planning or find more efficient and stress-free ways to manage your tax, start a conversation with us today.