According to tax and accounting information group Bloomsbury Professional, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) dealt with almost 90,000 calls from March 2013 to March this year, which works out at around 350 calls per day.
Bloomsbury Professional said the rise in the volume of calls demonstrates the public’s growing concern over tax evasion.
“The number of calls the hotline is receiving is astonishing,” said managing director of Bloomsbury, Martin Casimir. “It’s clear that people are very keen to ensure that no one cheats the tax system and everybody pays their fair share.”
However, the firm has pointed out that the high volume of calls does not mean large amounts of tax have been recovered.
“HMRC should be concerned”
With many of the calls relating to tradesmen being paid in cash, Casimir said “HMRC should be concerned” about the small number of calls that reveal any notable tax evasion, predominantly because the high cost of investigating puts a strain on the Revenue’s resources.
“The Revenue has to weigh up the value of the potential tax reclaimed versus the cost of actually pursuing the claim,” he said.
“It is also worth remembering individuals or businesses that are found not to owe any additional tax are usually not entitled to compensation, so fighting tax claims can prove extremely costly.”
Casimir said people’s increased awareness of tax irregularities can lead to an “over-zealous approach” to reporting suspected tax evasion, which is likely to have led to the big jump in the volume of calls the hotline receives.
