HMRC cuts new tax probes as it focuses on pandemic

HMRC has dropped the launch of new tax probes by more than 50% after the coronavirus crisis first erupted to focus on implementing the UK government's covid-19 plans. A freedom of information (FOI) request by BDO, an accountancy firm, disclosed that between March and July, HMRC initiated 61,000 tax investigations — a drop on the 128,000 inquiries opened over the same period in 2019. "Tax avoidance and evasion has not gone away and we expect there to be a stockpile of cases to be opened before corporate and personal tax filing deadlines of December 31 and January 31 respectively," Dawn...