Latest news with #ChrisEtherington
BBC News
12-08-2025
- Business
- BBC News
HMRC using AI to scour suspected tax cheats' social media
HMRC has confirmed it uses artificial intelligence (AI) to monitor social media posts as part of criminal investigations into suspected tax said the tech would not replace "human decision-making" and was subject to legal oversight."Greater use of AI will enable our staff to spend less time on admin and more time helping taxpayers, as well as better target fraud and evasion to bring in more money for public services," it said in a experts warn there are risks with using AI in this way. "AI could help HMRC to streamline its processes and make it easier to compile all the available information about an individual," accountancy firm RSM UK partner Chris Etherington told the BBC. "There are of course risks with automating this and there could be cases of mistaken identity, particularly with fake or hacked social media accounts."There will clearly still need to be a human touch in the process to ensure appropriate decisions are made and all the relevant information is reviewed." The tax authority said it had used AI for several years to support its work, though it first emerged it was being used to monitor the social media accounts of suspected tax cheats when reported by the Daily Telegraph on Tuesday.A spokesperson clarified AI was only used this way as part of criminal investigations - not on the everyday tax investigators have for years looked at the social media posts of people suspected of wrongdoing in relation to tax and one famous example, a woman who claimed benefits citing her ill health was exposed through her social media posts about long distance is now known that HMRC is now partially automating the process through the use of AI - with human does not appear to be coming at the cost of jobs, with the government announcing the tax authority will gain 5,500 compliance staff. 'Make life easier' Nonetheless the disclosure comes at an uncomfortable time for the government, which is currently facing allegations from insiders that its national institute for AI is at risk of technology secretary has threatened to withdraw its funding, and wants it to focus on defence HMRC has already announced several efforts using AI which could streamline its operations. "It is not yet clear how far and fast HMRC has got with its AI developments, but it has already been successfully using software that compiles and analyses data for years," Mr Etherington said. "The primary focus at HMRC appears to be on using AI to make life easier for taxpayers."He said he expected the tax authority to look into developing tools which would help people get their tax returns right, as "a lot of tax revenues can be lost through errors and mistakes". "It has also been announced that HMRC will be using AI to help taxpayers access over 100,000 pages of guidance on its website," he said. "Anything that can help on that front is likely to be welcome news to taxpayers as HMRC's current online guidance can be bewildering to many."
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Double-digit rise in northerners paying inheritance tax
Northern households are increasingly being caught in the Government's inheritance tax raid, new data shows. Since 2015, there has been a 40pc surge in the number of families in the North West forced to pay death duties due to the Government's frozen thresholds. This was the biggest increase of any region in England. Properties in the north of the country are far cheaper than in the south, yet frozen thresholds coupled with house price inflation mean smaller estates are being dragged into inheritance tax. The top three postcodes which saw the sharpest rise in families paying inheritance tax between 2015 and 2022 were Wolverhampton, Bradford and Dundee, according to data from HM Revenue and Customs obtained by the law firm Irwin Mitchell in a Freedom of Information request. The number of London families dragged into the net rose by only 4pc over the same period. Each individual can leave behind up to £325,000 without paying inheritance tax, however, this tax-free allowance has been frozen since 2009 despite soaring house prices. Had the Government increased the threshold in line with inflation, it would be worth almost £520,000 today. It means families who might not consider themselves wealthy are increasing forced to pay the 40pc charge. The modest rise in Londoners paying inheritance could reflect the use of tax avoidance strategies among the wealthy elite, according to Irwin Mitchell. Despite this, the amount of tax paid by Londoners still leapt by over 40pc due to the number of high value estates in the capital. Families in inner London forked out £831m in 2015, but Irwin Mitchell predicts this will hit £1.6bn by 2026-27. Meanwhile, it expects the tax haul in Wolverhampton to soar from £8m in 2015-16 to £38m by 2026-27 – an increase of 375pc in just over a decade. England has long suffered from a North-South divide, with workers in the South East earning on average £12,800 more than in the lowest paid areas of the country such as Burnley and Huddersfield, according to research from Centre for Cities. The average property in the North West sells for about £250,000, almost half the value of a typical home in the South East. Chris Etherington, of accountants RSM, said the number of northerners paying inheritance tax will rise again because of the changes to business tax relief announced in the October Budget. As part of her maiden budget, Rachel Reeves slashed tax relief for business owners and farmers while also making pensions liable for the 40pc charge, dragging an estimated 10,000 new families into the net. Mr Etherington said: 'There are significant numbers of privately owned businesses in the North that will be impacted by the changes to inheritance tax reliefs from April 2026, and it is inevitable more estates will have a tax bill to pay as a result. 'There are thriving entrepreneurial businesses in the North, in particular in industries such as manufacturing and technology, and many business owners are still unaware of the inheritance tax implications that lie ahead.' This comes as a study by Family Business UK warns that the new inheritance tax rules for family businesses and farmers could wipe almost £15bn off the UK's economic activity. Andy Butcher, of wealth manager Raymond James, said: 'How are business owners supposed to plan for their succession when the business will now likely have to be sold on their death to cover inheritance tax? It's a short-term cash grab which will cause significant damage to the UK economy in the longer term.' Homeowners passing on their main property can claim an additional £175,000 allowance called the residence nil-rate band. Couples can share their allowances which means they can protect up to £1m from the 40pc charge. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Telegraph
12-03-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Britain's wealthy flee to Italy and Greece ahead of April tax raid
Are you moving to another country to protect your finances ahead of the end of the tax year? Email us at money@ Wealthy families desperate to avoid high taxes are rushing to move to Italy and Greece before the end of the financial year, according to experts. British taxpayers are fleeing to low-tax regimes abroad before April 5, to make it easier to ditch UK residency in the coming tax year. Wealth managers cited Labour's inheritance tax raid, increases to capital gains tax, and the ending of the non-dom regime as the main drivers of the exodus. Under reforms from April, all UK resident individuals will pay tax on their worldwide income and gains, and the remittance basis, where residents only pay tax on the amount of income or gains they bring into the UK, will come to an end. Frozen income tax thresholds, which drag more people into paying higher rates, will remain frozen until 2028-29. Chris Etherington, of accountancy firm RSM, said Mediterranean countries like Italy and Greece were proving attractive destinations as they offer preferential tax regimes, similar to the non-dom rules that are set to be abolished in Britain in April. Non-dom status allows foreigners to live in Britain but avoid paying UK tax on money they make overseas. The rush to quit Britain before the new tax year means some people are leaving the country 'without a fully-formed plan', according to Mr Etherington. He added: 'There may be a bit of a Thelma and Louise philosophy: 'What if we just kept driving?' The key will be ensuring they do not drive off a cliff and land themselves in hot water with HMRC in due course.' Christopher Groves, a partner at high-end international law firm Withers, said he was seeing a 'huge spike' in clients moving to Italy, and a rush to make the move before the end of the tax year. He added: 'It's important to make sure you're gone by 6 April if you're going to leave next year. You need to have found your villa in Marbella or apartment in Monaco. 'The changes to non-dom and inheritance tax rules have pushed lots of people who didn't have a real plan to leave the UK to bring that forward, which means they're doing things in a less well thought through way. 'The world is so small these days, so it feels like a relatively easy step to take, but there can be practical difficulties.' You are automatically considered a UK resident if you spend 183 days or more in the UK during a tax year. However, moving abroad does not automatically cancel your UK tax liabilities. You may be considered a non-resident if you meet automatic overseas tests. These include spending fewer than 16 days in the UK in the tax year if you were not a UK resident in all of the previous three tax years, or spending fewer than 46 days in the UK if you were not a UK resident in any of the previous three tax years. If you do not meet any of these tests, your residency status may depend on the number of ties you have to the UK, such as family, accommodation, or work. Britain's tax burden is at its highest level in 70 years and is projected to reach near-record levels by the end of the decade. The 40pc rate of inheritance tax, in particular, is a 'really big motivation' for wealthy individuals deciding to move abroad, according to Mr Groves. He added: 'We're so out of step [with other countries]. You can go to Italy and [inheritance tax] is single digits if anything, in Switzerland it's nothing. Here, 40pc above £325,000 is confiscatory by comparison.' The Office for Budget Responsibility, the official forecaster, expects up to 20pc of non-doms to leave the UK because of the tax raid. However, wealthy Britons who are not non-doms are also moving to friendlier tax regimes abroad. Britain lost 10,800 millionaires to overseas countries in 2024, more than double the number who left in 2023. According to research by the Adam Smith Institute (ASI) think tank, each of the millionaires that left Britain last year would have paid at least £393,957 in income tax per year, equal to the income tax take of 49 average taxpayers. More than a quarter (28pc) of people with investable assets of more than £250,000 questioned by the bi-annual Saltus Wealth Index last month said they were considering leaving Britain within the next 12 months.
