HMRC’s own computer systems have been unable to deal with the slew of changes to dividends and interest income introduced for the year ended 5 April 2017 so it is having to take swift action to address the problems, warn RSM head of tax risk and investigation Mike Down and tax manager Sarah Saunders

Cyber criminals have been targeting UK taxpayers with fake VAT return messages claiming to come from HMRC which, when opened, could infect PCs with a Trojan virus and allow them to take over the victim’s computer, according to information security specialists Trustwave

HMRC has averted over a million visits to deceptive websites, including those which promote misleading and costly helpline numbers, with actions which include taking control of some dubious online links