HMRC is ramping up activity now that its taxpayer protection taskforce is up to strength, following a recruitment drive to hire more than 1,200 investigators since March.

The department is understood to be conducting around 30,000 checks as it shifts from a stance of focusing on compliance and support, to one of stricter enforcement, according to Grant Thornton UK LLP.

A survey carried out earlier in the year for Grant Thornton of 605 mid-market businesses found that, of those surveyed who had made use of the scheme, just under a fifth (16%) had not reviewed their initial CJRS claims to check they were correct.