Written questions by Hall.

What estimate her Department has made of financial losses to consumers caused by cryptocurrency-related scams; and what steps she is taking to improve (a) prevention, (b) enforcement and (c) consumer protection for those scams.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)’s most recent consumer research publication provides indications of the levels of cryptoasset related fraud in the UK. This research is available online at: https://www.fca.org.uk/publication/research-notes/cryptoasset-consumer-research-2024-wave-5.pdf The Government takes the issue of fraud very seriously and is developing a new and expanded fraud strategy to further protect the public and businesses from this appalling crime. Relevant cryptoasset firms are already subject to UK financial promotions requirements, and required to register with the FCA for money laundering supervision. Building on this, the Government is introducing a comprehensive financial services regulatory regime for cryptoassets this year. The new regime will provide further protections for UK consumers, by requiring firms offering them services to be authorised and regulated by the FCA.

How many penalties were issued for non-submission of self-assessment tax returns in each of the last five years.

Late filing penalties are issued when a taxpayer fails to file an Income Tax Self Assessment (ITSA) return on or before the filing date (October 31 for paper, January 31 online). HMRC requires the information provided in a tax return to establish tax liab...

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of the denial of acess to the Mandatory Provident Fund by people from Hong Kong who are living in the UK on a British National (Overseas) visa on the financial we

This government is deeply committed to supporting members of the Hong Kong community who have relocated to the UK. We are aware that individuals who have chosen to take up the British National (Overseas) route are having difficulties accessing their Manda...