Tax Hero, Fast Track Reclaim and Total Tax Refunds were all found to have broken Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) rules by misleading taxpayers over the level of fees they would have to pay on tax rebates claimed by the agents. These services are all provided for free by HMRC.

Tax Hero advertised on Facebook claiming that taxpayers could secure a refund of £3,000 for tax paid on PPI claims and encouraged people to use their online tool to check whether they were entitled to a tax rebate.

The ASA challenged whether the advertisements misleadingly implied the ‘free online tool’ would confirm whether the consumer was entitled to a refund from HMRC and exaggerated the likely refund achievable by consumers. Tax Hero also did not make it clear that a 48% fee (with a £10 minimum) on the final refund applied, or that consumers could apply for a refund directly from HMRC free of charge.

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