Ten ways HMRC is catching tax cheats
7 Jul 17
Recent high-profile wins against tax evaders prove that when it comes to cracking down on tax dodgers, HMRC is serious about stepping up not only its surveillance but also about finding innovative ways of catching out tax cheats. Here are some the methods the UK tax office employs.
HMRC is currently “naming and shaming” individuals who evade more than £25,000 in tax by publishing every three months the person’s name, address, nature of business, period covered by the evasion, amount of evaded tax and the penalty for that evasion.
HMRC has also long used disclosure facilities which offered reduced penalties and — in some cases — a promise of no prosecutions to people who settled up.
Those days have now gone and HMRC is coming down hard on evaders. It is increasingly wielding a threat of tougher penalties and more prosecutions.
In 2015, HMRC was given a target to triple to 100 the number of prosecutions of wealthy individuals and corporates made each year by 2020.
Anyone who has failed to correct previously undeclared UK tax liabilities in respect of offshore interests by September 2018 will pay a penalty of up to 200% of the tax and 10% of the value of the asset.
Tags: Beneficial Ownership | CRS | HMRC | Tax Evasion
