New stamp duty investigations hit five-year low

The data, which was secured through a request by City A.M. submitted to HMRC, indicates most of the tax yielded from stamp duty investigations is typically sourced from wealthy people purchasing high-end homes.

And, while the number of investigations launched by HMRC hit a five-year low of 529 (down from the previous year’s tally of 2,096), HMRC’s recouped cash from stamp duty investigation stayed broadly in line with the four-year average annual tax take from investigations of £60.5m.

According to City A.M., this suggests a large proportion of investigations into unpaid stamp duty are typically opened into higher valued property transactions - with most of the additional tax revenue taken by HMRC being from “posher postcodes”.

In response to a request for comment from the news outlet, an HMRC spokesperson said: “Throughout the pandemic, HMRC’s priority has been to deliver support to protect people’s livelihoods and support businesses. We have prioritised tackling serious fraud and criminal attacks on the tax system, while continuing wider activity to make sure individuals and businesses pay the right tax.

“Our approach is to identify where tax is most at risk of not being paid and design targeted and proportionate interventions to address it, which has led to an increase in compliance yield per cases opened.”