Over £100m will be invested by the government for a taxpayer protection taskforce of 1,265 HMRC staff to combat the estimated £3.5bn fraudulent Covid-19 claims.
The taskforce will focus on claims of the Coronvirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) and Self Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) which could lead to being fraudulent. Law enforcement will be strengthened for Bounce Back Loans to deter fraud.
In the 2010 Spending Review, the HMRC recruited 1000 staff to battle tax fraud which led to a significant increase in prosecution in under 5 years. This outcome made HMRC the largest economic crime agency in the UK.