HMRC launched 529 SDLT investigations in 2020/21 - 75% fewer than in the previous tax year - according to figures obtained by law firm Boodle Hatfield.
The 529 figure for 2020/21 represents a five year low, with the numbers of cases in recent years standing at 2,196 (2016/17), 3,268 (2017/18), 2,947 (2018/19) and 2,096 (2019/20).
Kyra Motley, partner at Boodle Hatfield, attributed the drop in investigations to HMRC redeploying its resources to the furlough scheme throughout the pandemic.
'It is an astonishingly sharp drop, especially when set against the boom in residential property transactions,' Motley said.
'It seems unlikely this fall in investigations is because there has been a similarly sharp drop in wrongly claimed tax reliefs,' she added. 'HMRC will be keen to make up for the shortfall and we expect them to scale up now that lockdown restrictions have ended and staff have returned to a more normal working environment.'
HMRC launched 529 SDLT investigations in 2020/21 - 75% fewer than in the previous tax year - according to figures obtained by law firm Boodle Hatfield.
The 529 figure for 2020/21 represents a five year low, with the numbers of cases in recent years standing at 2,196 (2016/17), 3,268 (2017/18), 2,947 (2018/19) and 2,096 (2019/20).
Kyra Motley, partner at Boodle Hatfield, attributed the drop in investigations to HMRC redeploying its resources to the furlough scheme throughout the pandemic.
'It is an astonishingly sharp drop, especially when set against the boom in residential property transactions,' Motley said.
'It seems unlikely this fall in investigations is because there has been a similarly sharp drop in wrongly claimed tax reliefs,' she added. 'HMRC will be keen to make up for the shortfall and we expect them to scale up now that lockdown restrictions have ended and staff have returned to a more normal working environment.'
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