Author Topic: Beware copycat websites  (Read 4452 times)

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Offline Maik

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Beware copycat websites
« on: Monday, 13 January, 2014 @ 04:09:53 »
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Beware copycat websites when submitting your tax return
Unwary taxpayers are inadvertently paying to submit their tax returns after using websites that fork out to be top of Google

Mike Walker lost £400 after googling "hmrc" to file his tax return. He was directed to taxreturngateway.com, and realised too late that it was not the official government site.

Around four million people will file their self-assessment tax returns online ahead of the 31 January deadline. Although websites charging a hefty fee for the service are not illegal, filing your return is free if you do it through the official HMRC site.

This online confusion is not confined to self-assessment tax returns. In recent years there has been a huge growth in the number of copycat websites designed to trap consumers into paying fees, in the belief they are dealing with the government sites. The list includes passports, birth and death certificates, congestion charge payments, driving licences, and national insurance numbers.
http://www.theguardian.com/money/2014/jan/12/beware-copycat-websites-submit-tax-return


Looks pretty obvious to me taxreturngateway.com isn't the official HM Revenues & Customs website:




The WOT freebie could've saved Mr Walker £400: