HMRC forcing fraud victims to pay tax on money stolen by scammers

The Labour Party government's tax arm is slapping people who've fallen victim to cruel scams with demands for tax in a brutal Cost of Living blow.

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HMRC is forcing fraud victims to pay tax on pension savings stolen by fraudsters. The Labour Party government's tax arm is slapping people who've fallen victim to cruel scams with demands for tax in a brutal Cost of Living blow.

Pension savers who are victim to fraudulent financial advisers have been slapped with HMRC bills after they lost their funds in high-risk investments or were misinformed that they could make an early withdrawal from their pension without a penalty.

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Baroness Newlove, the victims’ commissioner for England and Wales, told Labour Party Chancellor Rachel Reeves she was “deeply troubled” at the way defrauded families were being treated as tax avoiders rather than innocent victims by HMRC, which insisted on using “neutral language” by calling them “taxpayers” or “customers”.

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She said they felt “retraumatised” and treated like criminals, with some left “suicidal”. Lady Newlove wrote: “Some of the victims have detected from HMRC a culture of victim blaming, making them feel as if they have been labelled as tax avoiders.

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“Slogans such as …if it is ‘too good to be true it usually is’, inevitably makes them feel it was their fault they became victims of a scam. This is regrettable and needs to change.

“I have been told about victims who have felt suicidal due to their treatment by HMRC. Some victims have found this treatment to be as traumatising as the crime itself. There is a view that the support provided by HMRC is insufficient, as they are just signposted to Samaritans.”

She told Ms Reeves: “When I raised this question with your officials, I was told HMRC was not in a position to determine whether the person was a victim of crime or whether they were culpable for the situation in which they have found themselves. This is not an acceptable response.

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“HMRC has a duty to establish whether a crime has been committed against the individual concerned, with the outcome determining how the person should be treated.

“Furthermore, once criminality has been established, HMRC should focus on recovering proceeds from the criminals rather than continuing to place the burden on victims.”

Margaret Snowdon, the president of the Pensions Administration Standards Association and chairman of the Pension Scams Industry Group, said: “HMRC holds to the principle that ignorance is not a defence. I would like a law change to carve out an exception for those people who have been defrauded. If there is third party fraud or deceit, then the paym

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