The Revenue said it expected to recover more than £19.5m from tax dodgers using the task forces. It describes them as “specialist teams that undertake intensive bursts of activity in specific high-risk trade sectors and locations in the UK”.
As well as lawyers, the task forces will target grocery and retail business in South and North Wales and the North and South West of England, hair and beauty in the North East, restaurants in the South East and Solent areas and the motor trade in Scotland.
HMRC said the teams will visit traders to examine their records and carry out other investigations.
David Gauke, the exchequer secretary, said: “We have made it clear that we will not tolerate tax evasion and we are determined to crack down on the minority who choose to break the rules. Everyone needs to pay the taxes they owe in full. It is not fair that at a time when most hard-working people are paying the right tax, others are trying to get out of paying what they should.”
However, some are sceptical over whether targeting lawyers will reap the rewards HMRC is hoping for.
Tim Gregory, a partner at accountancy firm Saffery Champness said: “HMRC’s previous similar crackdowns have been in relation to occupations where there are a significant amount of cash transactions and/or elements of work that are routinely dealt with outside normal accounting systems. Both of these aspects allow an opportunity to conceal income and so evade tax. Neither of these aspects are present to any great extent in the legal profession, and it is difficult to see how HMRC expect to recover significant amounts of tax.
“Lawyers are professionals, regulated tightly by their professional bodies, and a conviction for tax fraud would put an end to their careers. Whilst every walk of life has its bad eggs, only an exceptionally unusual lawyer would risk their livelihood by cheating the system, so it seems unlikely that there can be many for HMRC to investigate.”
