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UK- Battle Lines Drawn On Unpaid
Tax |
Experts are warning that the UK tax
authority is more inclined to prosecute evaders as figures
show millions of pounds of unpaid tax has been recouped.
Follow-up enquiries have added millions to
the collections made following high-profile disclosure
campaigns. Criminal investigations have been launched into
10 people with offshore accounts and six in medical trades.
Maximum fines for tax evaders have recently increased, but
can be reduced for those who come forward voluntarily.
"Criminal investigations have not been the weapons of
choice for HM Revenue and Customs, but now they are part of
the armoury," said Gary Ashford, representative for the
Chartered Institute of Taxation.
Tax evaders include "chip shop owners,
taxi drivers and landladies", HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC)
has said. It has been set targets by the government to
harvest unpaid tax. The original campaign aimed at evaders
with offshore accounts was launched in 2007 and gathered
£400m after 45,000 came forward. Subsequent inquiries have
brought in another £91m and 1,000 enquiries are continuing.
A second campaign was launched in September
2009. This garnered £85m from 5,500 disclosures. Follow-up
inquiries yielded another £6m. Ten criminal investigations
are ongoing, although these will not necessarily lead to
prosecutions. New penalties were introduced in April which
raised the maximum fine level for those with offshore
accounts to 200% of unpaid tax, in addition to the repaying
the tax owed. Mr Ashford said HMRC was taking a "very
tough line" against these evaders.
The tax authority has also threatened to
publish the names of people who deliberately evaded tax.
This could have serious implications for those in medical
professions who were uncovered as part of a campaign by HMRC
targeting that sector, according to Mr Ashford. Some £10m
has been gathered from 1,500 disclosures during the
campaign.
Six criminal investigations have been
launched. Medical professionals who admitted unpaid tax
before 30 June could pay past tax, plus interest, and a
penalty of 10% of the unpaid tax. Mr Ashford advised evaders
to make a disclosure, as they could still reduce the
penalties they faced by coming forward voluntarily.
More recently, HMRC has launched tax payment
campaigns against plumbers and restaurant owners. "We
are confident that these and more cases will be taken
forward in the future," said Chris Harrison, HMRC
criminal investigations deputy director.
"This is proof of HMRC's determination
to increase the number of prosecutions we take forward in
all areas. We are committed to ensuring everyone pays what
they owe so that the maximum is available to spend on public
services used by everyone."
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