HMRC condemned over small business "persecution"

A number of business leaders and MPs have collectively condemned Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs (HMRC) for allegedly harassing small companies for their tax liabilities while taking a much more lenient approach with bigger firms. The MPs and business people spoke out in advance of the impending launch of the business records checks (BRC) scheme, which will require small businesses to back up their tax returns with paperwork going back for a number of years. John Walker, the national chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses, told the Independent newspaper that the scheme - which could see companies landed with fines of up to £3,000 - also undermined government pledges to cut the red tape around taxes. "Despite the worsening economy, HMRC is launching this scheme regardless of the consequences," Walker said. "We have spoken to HMRC and expressed our concerns about this a number of times. But as far as they and ministers are concerned it is a policy aim to make this happen. There is a huge difference between the rhetoric of the government about helping small businesses and what it is doing in reality."Tory MP for Witham, Priti Patel, said that the scheme was gross persecution of small businesses, which were being considered as "low-lying fruit" by HMRC."The attitude of HMRC to small businesses is frankly disgraceful when they are blatantly doing deals with large firms which have allowed them to escape millions of pounds in tax liabilities," she said. "This is the persecution of small businesses at a time when they are already facing a very, very hard time."

http://www.50percenttax.co.uk/index/2012/1/6/hmrc-condemned-over-small-business-persecution.html