HMRC have announced that they will be imposing penalties of up to 100% of the amounts overclaimed on businesses, you must make sure your claims are correct.

The penalties depend on whether or not the overclaim is the result of a deliberate error and whether or not the disclosure was prompted by HMRC. The penalty may be reduced where the taxpayer assists HMRC in correcting the error.

Many overclaims may be the result of careless errors or a misinterpretation of the rules which have changed many times in the last nine months. We hope that HMRC will apply the rules with a light touch and focus on those that have abused these schemes.

We understand that HMRC is writing to 4,000 catering establishments that they suspect may have overclaimed under the ‘eat out to help out’ scheme that ran in August.  Traders are being asked to check their claims and respond within 60 days or face an HMRC compliance check.