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Written Question
Revenue and Customs: Standards
Wednesday 1st February 2023

Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of HMRC's rate of return on investment for (a) covid-schemes fraud and error and (b) tax compliance recovery.

Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care

At Budget 2021, the Government announced an investment of over £100 million in the Taxpayer Protection Taskforce, to be in place for two years to April 2023, to combat fraud in the COVID-19 financial support schemes administered by His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, Self Employed Income Support Scheme and Eat Out To Help Out). Including amounts recovered through compliance work on the COVID-19 schemes before the taskforce was formed, HMRC expects to recover £1.1bn by September 2023.

On 13 October 2022, HMRC set out their plans in an issue briefing ”HMRC issue briefing: tackling error and fraud in the Covid-19 support schemes” to transition COVID-19 compliance activity to business-as-usual compliance teams by the end of September 2023.


Written Question
Taxpayer Protection Taskforce
Monday 23rd January 2023

Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to replace the Taxpayer Protection Taskforce with an alternative scheme after September 2023.

Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care

At Budget 2021, the Government announced an investment of over £100 million in the Taxpayer Protection Taskforce, to be in place for two years to April 2023, to combat fraud in the COVID-19 financial support schemes administered by HMRC (Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, Self Employed Income Support Scheme and Eat Out To Help Out).

As planned between April and September 2023, compliance staff currently deployed on the taskforce will move back to business-as-usual tax compliance activity. Ongoing investigations into overclaimed grants that haven't been concluded will be worked to completion. HMRC will consider the risk of overclaims of COVID-19 grants alongside other tax compliance risks when prioritising cases for a compliance check. This is the most efficient way to ensure we protect and recover taxpayers’ money, as it allows HMRC to deal with all aspects of a customer’s potential non-compliance in a single check.

HMRC remains committed to tackling error and fraud in the COVID-19 support schemes where this is the most cost-effective use of resources, and we are not writing off any overpayments of grants. We will continue to take action against those who have deliberately sought to abuse the COVID-19 financial support schemes, while recognising there will be people who have made honest mistakes.


Written Question
Taxpayer Protection Taskforce: Staff
Tuesday 19th July 2022

Asked by: Pat McFadden (Labour - Wolverhampton South East)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many full-time equivalent staff the Taxpayer Protection Taskforce employed as of 12 July 2022.

Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport

At Spring Budget 2021 the Government announced a £100 million investment into the Taxpayer Protection Taskforce. The taskforce was established to extend HMRC’s work to tackle fraud and error in the COVID support schemes that they administered (Self Employment Income Support Scheme, Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, and Eat Out to Help Out). The taskforce does not deliver compliance across schemes administered outside HMRC.

Anyone who keeps grant money despite knowing they were not entitled to it, faces having to repay up to double the amount they received, plus interest and potentially criminal prosecution.

HMRC identifies claims for compliance checks where the amount of the claim is out of step with other information. The risk that the claim is incorrect may be due to either an honest mistake or fraud, therefore, the value of recovered grants does not distinguish between error and fraud.

As of July 2022, the taskforce was made up of 1,155 full-time equivalent staff (FTE). The FTE will vary across the year. The resource commitment is proportionate to the number of high-risk claims made and the risks posed by error and fraud in the HMRC administered schemes.

The taskforce commenced activity from April 2021 and will build on the £536 million already recovered in 2020-21. Taskforce performance for 2021-22 is covered in HMRC’s Annual Report and Accounts for 2021-22, which are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hmrc-annual-report-and-accounts-2021-to-2022. This is in addition to the amounts that HMRC prevented from being paid out on incorrect claims.


Written Question
Self-employment Income Support Scheme
Friday 25th February 2022

Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of (a) waiving or (b) reducing taxes on Self-Employment Income Support Scheme grants for people facing difficulties in paying them.

Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport

The Government has supported UK households throughout the pandemic with nearly £400 billion of COVID support, including through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) which provided over £28 billion in grants to 2.9 million individuals.

The Government does not think it is right to allow SEISS recipients to alter the rate of tax paid on that income over time. When announcing the scheme on 26 March 2020, and in subsequent SEISS guidance throughout the life of the scheme, the Chancellor set out that these grants are taxable: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/chancellor-outlines-new-coronavirus-support-measures-for-the-self-employed

The SEISS was designed to support those whose income had dropped temporarily due to COVID-19. Like self-employed income, SEISS grant payments are subject to Income Tax and self-employed National Insurance contributions at the recipient’s rate of Income Tax in the year they were received. This ensures fairness for recipients of support across various schemes, and for the taxpayers who are funding the schemes. Taxes help to fund public services from which we all benefit, such as the NHS.

The Government has implemented an unprecedented package of support for taxpayers struggling with paying tax liabilities. HMRC has scaled up its longstanding Time to Pay policy, which allows any business or individual in temporary financial difficulty to schedule their tax debts into affordable, sustainable, and tailored instalment arrangements. Anyone experiencing difficulties paying their tax bill can discuss payment options with HMRC. HMRC are committed to supporting taxpayers through difficult times and will do everything possible to help. There are further details available on GOV.UK or by calling the Self-Assessment payment helpline.


Written Question
Self-employment Income Support Scheme
Friday 25th February 2022

Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what further steps he plans to take to support people in receipt of Self-Employment Income Support Scheme grants who are facing difficulties in paying their taxes.

Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport

The Government has supported UK households throughout the pandemic with nearly £400 billion of COVID support, including through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) which provided over £28 billion in grants to 2.9 million individuals.

The Government does not think it is right to allow SEISS recipients to alter the rate of tax paid on that income over time. When announcing the scheme on 26 March 2020, and in subsequent SEISS guidance throughout the life of the scheme, the Chancellor set out that these grants are taxable: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/chancellor-outlines-new-coronavirus-support-measures-for-the-self-employed

The SEISS was designed to support those whose income had dropped temporarily due to COVID-19. Like self-employed income, SEISS grant payments are subject to Income Tax and self-employed National Insurance contributions at the recipient’s rate of Income Tax in the year they were received. This ensures fairness for recipients of support across various schemes, and for the taxpayers who are funding the schemes. Taxes help to fund public services from which we all benefit, such as the NHS.

The Government has implemented an unprecedented package of support for taxpayers struggling with paying tax liabilities. HMRC has scaled up its longstanding Time to Pay policy, which allows any business or individual in temporary financial difficulty to schedule their tax debts into affordable, sustainable, and tailored instalment arrangements. Anyone experiencing difficulties paying their tax bill can discuss payment options with HMRC. HMRC are committed to supporting taxpayers through difficult times and will do everything possible to help. There are further details available on GOV.UK or by calling the Self-Assessment payment helpline.


Written Question
Business: Coronavirus
Monday 21st February 2022

Asked by: Alison Thewliss (Scottish National Party - Glasgow Central)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of erroneous registration data on its ability to recover payments from fraudulent applications to covid-19 support schemes.

Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

The Government has provided around £400 billion of direct support for the economy since the start of the pandemic, which has helped to safeguard jobs, businesses and public services in every region and nation of the UK.

The Government takes the issue of potential fraud relating to covid support schemes extremely seriously. Robust measures were put in place to control error and fraud in the key covid support schemes from their inception.

Departments are required to disclose details of material fraud, evasion and error within their annual report and accounts, which can be found on GOV.UK. From 2021-22, departments must provide an evidenced estimate of the level of fraud and error specifically in respect of the COVID-19 related schemes they administer and the level of debt as a result of that fraud and error.

In relation to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) and Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS), HMRC prioritised getting money to those who needed it with the schemes designed to minimise fraud while not unnecessarily delaying payments. The schemes were designed to prevent fraud, both in the eligibility criteria and the claim process itself.

As recovering funds lost to organised criminals is especially difficult, HMRC prioritised tackling this risk before payments were made. Eligibility has been limited to employees and the self-employed who already had a tax footprint, which gives HMRC greater confidence these are not ‘bogus’ claims falsified to look like real businesses. HMRC also put in place a series of checks on claims before they are paid so that HMRC were able to block those that are highly indicative of criminal activity. In addition, HMRC is able to investigate suspect payments that did not meet the threshold for pre-payment blocks post-payment, using their full range of civil and criminal powers and tools.

In relation to the CJRS specifically, HMRC ensured that the claims service captured all the data necessary to enable post payment compliance and only accepted claims from employers known to and authenticated by HMRC. HMRC have actively prevented non-eligible employers from applying. Claimants are required to provide details of who has been furloughed and for how long, providing HMRC with clear data against which to make checks.

Regarding the SEISS, claimants had to have made a 2018/19 self-assessment tax return in order to claim grants 1 to 3 and a 2019/20 tax return to claim grants 4 and 5. The amount they claim is based on tax returns previously submitted to HMRC. In addition, compliance activity is underway in respect of those claimants who have indicated on their tax returns that their self-employment has ceased, but claimed a SEISS grant. If HMRC identify grants have been claimed when the person is not eligible, then recovery of the overpaid amounts is undertaken, with appropriate penalties being issued to those most egregious of cases. HMRC have also implemented pre-claim verification checks on those customers who have submitted 2019/20 returns as newly self-employed. The purpose of these checks is to establish that the return is from a genuine person, and they are undertaking self-employed activity.

Eat Out to Help Out ran for one month in August 2020. HMRC’s risk analysis identified customers whose claims indicated significantly supressed turnover and/or an inflated claim. HMRC launched a campaign aimed at encouraging these customers to repay excess claims (although where HMRC believe something is clearly egregious, they move straight to direct intervention). Customers who presented a risk following this campaign were triaged for further activity. HMRC also directly investigated around 800 of the highest risk cases.

Regarding Bounce Back Loans (BBLS), lenders were required to make and maintain appropriate anti-fraud, anti-money laundering and Know Your Customer checks. Specifically, lenders must use a reputable fraud bureau (such as The UK’s Fraud Prevention Community CIFAS’s fraud prevention and detection solution SIRA) to screen against potential or known fraudsters. If an application fails the lender’s fraud checks, the lender must not offer a loan.

In addition to these lender checks, further checks include the duplicate loan check, incorporation date check and the change in director check that were introduced in June 2020. These minimum standards were agreed following consultation with PWC and lenders on what would have the biggest impact on preventing fraud while still meeting the policy objectives.

Under the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) and the Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CLBILS), lenders were able to conduct full credit checks on borrowers in line with business as usual processes and thus verify the financial information provided by borrowers, with less reliance on information self-certified by the borrower (as is the case under BBLS). This reduces fraud risk by allowing lenders to assure themselves that borrowers are not providing false information in order to obtain funds.


Written Question
Business: Coronavirus
Monday 21st February 2022

Asked by: Alison Thewliss (Scottish National Party - Glasgow Central)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many and what proportion of applications to the (a) Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, (b) Self-Employment Income Support Scheme, (c) Eat out to Help Out, (d) Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme, (e) Bounce Back Loan Scheme and (f) Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme that were submitted with erroneous registration data has his Department identified as involving fraud.

Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

The Government has provided around £400 billion of direct support for the economy since the start of the pandemic, which has helped to safeguard jobs, businesses and public services in every region and nation of the UK.

The Government takes the issue of potential fraud relating to covid support schemes extremely seriously. Robust measures were put in place to control error and fraud in the key covid support schemes from their inception.

Departments are required to disclose details of material fraud, evasion and error within their annual report and accounts, which can be found on GOV.UK. From 2021-22, departments must provide an evidenced estimate of the level of fraud and error specifically in respect of the COVID-19 related schemes they administer and the level of debt as a result of that fraud and error.

In relation to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) and Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS), HMRC prioritised getting money to those who needed it with the schemes designed to minimise fraud while not unnecessarily delaying payments. The schemes were designed to prevent fraud, both in the eligibility criteria and the claim process itself.

As recovering funds lost to organised criminals is especially difficult, HMRC prioritised tackling this risk before payments were made. Eligibility has been limited to employees and the self-employed who already had a tax footprint, which gives HMRC greater confidence these are not ‘bogus’ claims falsified to look like real businesses. HMRC also put in place a series of checks on claims before they are paid so that HMRC were able to block those that are highly indicative of criminal activity. In addition, HMRC is able to investigate suspect payments that did not meet the threshold for pre-payment blocks post-payment, using their full range of civil and criminal powers and tools.

In relation to the CJRS specifically, HMRC ensured that the claims service captured all the data necessary to enable post payment compliance and only accepted claims from employers known to and authenticated by HMRC. HMRC have actively prevented non-eligible employers from applying. Claimants are required to provide details of who has been furloughed and for how long, providing HMRC with clear data against which to make checks.

Regarding the SEISS, claimants had to have made a 2018/19 self-assessment tax return in order to claim grants 1 to 3 and a 2019/20 tax return to claim grants 4 and 5. The amount they claim is based on tax returns previously submitted to HMRC. In addition, compliance activity is underway in respect of those claimants who have indicated on their tax returns that their self-employment has ceased, but claimed a SEISS grant. If HMRC identify grants have been claimed when the person is not eligible, then recovery of the overpaid amounts is undertaken, with appropriate penalties being issued to those most egregious of cases. HMRC have also implemented pre-claim verification checks on those customers who have submitted 2019/20 returns as newly self-employed. The purpose of these checks is to establish that the return is from a genuine person, and they are undertaking self-employed activity.

Eat Out to Help Out ran for one month in August 2020. HMRC’s risk analysis identified customers whose claims indicated significantly supressed turnover and/or an inflated claim. HMRC launched a campaign aimed at encouraging these customers to repay excess claims (although where HMRC believe something is clearly egregious, they move straight to direct intervention). Customers who presented a risk following this campaign were triaged for further activity. HMRC also directly investigated around 800 of the highest risk cases.

Regarding Bounce Back Loans (BBLS), lenders were required to make and maintain appropriate anti-fraud, anti-money laundering and Know Your Customer checks. Specifically, lenders must use a reputable fraud bureau (such as The UK’s Fraud Prevention Community CIFAS’s fraud prevention and detection solution SIRA) to screen against potential or known fraudsters. If an application fails the lender’s fraud checks, the lender must not offer a loan.

In addition to these lender checks, further checks include the duplicate loan check, incorporation date check and the change in director check that were introduced in June 2020. These minimum standards were agreed following consultation with PWC and lenders on what would have the biggest impact on preventing fraud while still meeting the policy objectives.

Under the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) and the Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CLBILS), lenders were able to conduct full credit checks on borrowers in line with business as usual processes and thus verify the financial information provided by borrowers, with less reliance on information self-certified by the borrower (as is the case under BBLS). This reduces fraud risk by allowing lenders to assure themselves that borrowers are not providing false information in order to obtain funds.


Written Question
Business: Coronavirus
Monday 21st February 2022

Asked by: Alison Thewliss (Scottish National Party - Glasgow Central)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of the number of applications to the (a) Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, (b) Self-Employment Income Support Scheme, (c) Eat out to Help Out, (d) Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme, (e) Bounce Back Loan Scheme and (f) Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme that were submitted with erroneous registration data; and how many and what proportion of those applications involve fraud.

Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

The Government has provided around £400 billion of direct support for the economy since the start of the pandemic, which has helped to safeguard jobs, businesses and public services in every region and nation of the UK.

The Government takes the issue of potential fraud relating to covid support schemes extremely seriously. Robust measures were put in place to control error and fraud in the key covid support schemes from their inception.

Departments are required to disclose details of material fraud, evasion and error within their annual report and accounts, which can be found on GOV.UK. From 2021-22, departments must provide an evidenced estimate of the level of fraud and error specifically in respect of the COVID-19 related schemes they administer and the level of debt as a result of that fraud and error.

In relation to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) and Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS), HMRC prioritised getting money to those who needed it with the schemes designed to minimise fraud while not unnecessarily delaying payments. The schemes were designed to prevent fraud, both in the eligibility criteria and the claim process itself.

As recovering funds lost to organised criminals is especially difficult, HMRC prioritised tackling this risk before payments were made. Eligibility has been limited to employees and the self-employed who already had a tax footprint, which gives HMRC greater confidence these are not ‘bogus’ claims falsified to look like real businesses. HMRC also put in place a series of checks on claims before they are paid so that HMRC were able to block those that are highly indicative of criminal activity. In addition, HMRC is able to investigate suspect payments that did not meet the threshold for pre-payment blocks post-payment, using their full range of civil and criminal powers and tools.

In relation to the CJRS specifically, HMRC ensured that the claims service captured all the data necessary to enable post payment compliance and only accepted claims from employers known to and authenticated by HMRC. HMRC have actively prevented non-eligible employers from applying. Claimants are required to provide details of who has been furloughed and for how long, providing HMRC with clear data against which to make checks.

Regarding the SEISS, claimants had to have made a 2018/19 self-assessment tax return in order to claim grants 1 to 3 and a 2019/20 tax return to claim grants 4 and 5. The amount they claim is based on tax returns previously submitted to HMRC. In addition, compliance activity is underway in respect of those claimants who have indicated on their tax returns that their self-employment has ceased, but claimed a SEISS grant. If HMRC identify grants have been claimed when the person is not eligible, then recovery of the overpaid amounts is undertaken, with appropriate penalties being issued to those most egregious of cases. HMRC have also implemented pre-claim verification checks on those customers who have submitted 2019/20 returns as newly self-employed. The purpose of these checks is to establish that the return is from a genuine person, and they are undertaking self-employed activity.

Eat Out to Help Out ran for one month in August 2020. HMRC’s risk analysis identified customers whose claims indicated significantly supressed turnover and/or an inflated claim. HMRC launched a campaign aimed at encouraging these customers to repay excess claims (although where HMRC believe something is clearly egregious, they move straight to direct intervention). Customers who presented a risk following this campaign were triaged for further activity. HMRC also directly investigated around 800 of the highest risk cases.

Regarding Bounce Back Loans (BBLS), lenders were required to make and maintain appropriate anti-fraud, anti-money laundering and Know Your Customer checks. Specifically, lenders must use a reputable fraud bureau (such as The UK’s Fraud Prevention Community CIFAS’s fraud prevention and detection solution SIRA) to screen against potential or known fraudsters. If an application fails the lender’s fraud checks, the lender must not offer a loan.

In addition to these lender checks, further checks include the duplicate loan check, incorporation date check and the change in director check that were introduced in June 2020. These minimum standards were agreed following consultation with PWC and lenders on what would have the biggest impact on preventing fraud while still meeting the policy objectives.

Under the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) and the Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CLBILS), lenders were able to conduct full credit checks on borrowers in line with business as usual processes and thus verify the financial information provided by borrowers, with less reliance on information self-certified by the borrower (as is the case under BBLS). This reduces fraud risk by allowing lenders to assure themselves that borrowers are not providing false information in order to obtain funds.


Written Question
Legal Aid Scheme: Coronavirus
Tuesday 8th February 2022

Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what support his Department is providing to legal aid firms affected by financial losses following court backlogs during the covid-19 outbreak.

Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

The Government introduced several measures to support legal aid firms. These included introducing hardship measures, specifically reducing the threshold for work done in Crown Court cases from £5000 to £450; halting the pursuit of debts to the Legal Aid Agency; and encouraging firms to access financial support via the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme, the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme and the Bounce Back Loan Scheme.

The Legal Aid Agency has already made some changes permanent which originated during the COVID-19 outbreak and continues to keep under review others which are still in place.


Written Question
Business: Coronavirus
Friday 4th February 2022

Asked by: Alison Thewliss (Scottish National Party - Glasgow Central)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many and what proportion of (a) Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, (b) Self Employment Income Support Scheme, (c) Eat out to Help Out, (d) Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme, (e) Bounce Back Loan Scheme and (f) Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme payments that involved fraud cannot be recovered by his Department due to erroneous registration data.

Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

The Government has provided around £400 billion of direct support for the economy since the start of the pandemic, which has helped to safeguard jobs, businesses and public services in every region and nation of the UK.

The Government takes the issue of potential fraud relating to covid support schemes extremely seriously. Robust measures were put in place to control error and fraud in the key covid support schemes from their inception.

In relation to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) and Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS), HMRC prioritised getting money to those who needed it with the schemes designed to minimise fraud while not unnecessarily delaying payments. The schemes were designed to prevent fraud, both in the eligibility criteria and the claim process itself.

As recovering funds lost to organised criminals is especially difficult, HMRC prioritised tackling this risk before payments were made. Eligibility has been limited to employees and the self-employed who already had a tax footprint, which gives HMRC greater confidence these are not ‘bogus’ claims falsified to look like real businesses. HMRC also put in place a series of checks on claims before they are paid so that HMRC were able to block those that are highly indicative of criminal activity. In addition, HMRC is able to investigate suspect payments that did not meet the threshold for pre-payment blocks post-payment, using their full range of civil and criminal powers and tools.

In relation to the CJRS specifically, HMRC ensured that the claims service captured all the data necessary to enable post payment compliance and only accepted claims from employers known to and authenticated by HMRC. HMRC have actively prevented non-eligible employers from applying. Claimants are required to provide details of who has been furloughed and for how long, providing HMRC with clear data against which to make checks.

Regarding the SEISS, claimants had to have made a 2018/19 self-assessment tax return in order to claim grants 1 to 3 and a 2019/20 tax return to claim grants 4 and 5. The amount they claim is based on tax returns previously submitted to HMRC. In addition, compliance activity is underway in respect of those claimants who have indicated on their tax returns that their self-employment has ceased but claimed a SEISS grant. If HMRC identify grants have been claimed when the person is not eligible, then recovery of the overpaid amounts is undertaken, with appropriate penalties being issued to those most egregious of cases. HMRC have also implemented pre-claim verification checks on those customers who have submitted 2019/20 returns as newly self-employed. The purpose of these checks is to establish that the return is from a genuine person, and they are undertaking self-employed activity.

Eat Out to Help Out scheme ran for one month in August 2020. HMRC’s risk analysis identified customers whose claims indicated significantly supressed turnover and/or an inflated claim. HMRC launched a campaign aimed at encouraging these customers to repay excess claims (although where HMRC believe something is clearly egregious, they moved straight to direct intervention). Customers who presented a risk following this campaign were triaged for further activity. HMRC also directly investigated around 800 of the highest risk cases.

Regarding Bounce Back Loans (BBLS), lenders were required to make and maintain appropriate anti-fraud, anti-money laundering and Know Your Customer checks. Specifically, lenders must use a reputable fraud bureau (such as The UK’s Fraud Prevention Community CIFAS’s fraud prevention and detection solution SIRA) to screen against potential or known fraudsters. If an application fails the lender’s fraud checks, the lender must not offer a loan.

In addition to these lender checks, further checks include the duplicate loan check, incorporation date check and the change in director check that were introduced in June 2020. These minimum standards were agreed following consultation with PWC and lenders on what would have the biggest impact on preventing fraud while still meeting the policy objectives.

Under the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) and the Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CLBILS), lenders were able to conduct full credit checks on borrowers in line with business as usual processes and thus verify the financial information provided by borrowers, with less reliance on information self-certified by the borrower (as is the case under BBLS). This reduces fraud risk by allowing lenders to assure themselves that borrowers are not providing false information in order to obtain funds.