HMRC and MLR

Is HMRC guilty of tipping off

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I watched the programme on Channel 4 last night regarding HMRC chasing tax dodgers. There was one particular case where someone was caught for evading VAT but the issue I am trying to address is the comments by the HMRC investigator.

He clearly stated that their investigation was started after a suspicious activity report by the perpetrators Accountant, then went into detail about what happened and what was in the report. Later in the programme reference was made again to the report and how Accountants make such reports to SOCA

Isn't this Tipping Off and if we can be reprimanded for doing so surely HMRC should be as well. I was also under the impression that the actual reports were confidential and that the "end user" was not given information as to where the report came from.

More chilling is the fact that this programme has revealed to all and sundry the Accountants role in reporting, and there are some nasty people out there.

 

Replies (5)

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Locutus of Borg
By Locutus
15th Aug 2017 12:45

The MLR report was discussed in open court. As I understand it, the person who wrote it was also required to give evidence in court.

So I guess, as the report was already in the public domain, referring to it in the TV programme would not be regarded as tipping off.

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Replying to Locutus:
By mrme89
15th Aug 2017 13:16

The programme was inaccurate though.

It stated that they (HMRC) received a SAR from the accountant.
It gave the false impression that accountants are in cahoots with HMRC.

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By User deleted
15th Aug 2017 13:03

Presumably, the reporting accountant lives in fear, for the rest of his life?
What price "justice"?

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By ccassociates
15th Aug 2017 13:31

I remember years ago when the system was quite young an I was MLRO for the firm I worked for. A police sergeant from The Fraud office turned up at our office and had with him an actual copy of my report which showed my name and the Accountants office. The client was a pretty nasty piece of work and was eventually "done" for a number of offences including multiple counts of GBH . I must admit it really scared me at the time that this information was being carried around in a briefcase

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Replying to ccassociates:
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By User deleted
15th Aug 2017 15:48

I often think that those in the public sector (HMRC, Police officials etc) have much less to lose, than those in the private sector, in these situations?

A true case of "them and us"? The description "poacher" still gives me a wry smile.

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