Revenue & Customs set to miss target for prosecution of tax evaders
Tax authority set a target of 1,165 people a year by 2014/15, but analysis of the last tax year shows it prosecuted just 795.
HM Revenue and Customs has fallen behind in its pursuit of criminal prosecutions for tax evasion, which costs the UK £35bn a year.
David Gauke, the financial secretary to the Treasury, said: “We’re determined to bring the small minority who break the law to cheat on their tax to justice. Following the government’s 2010 spending review commitment to invest an additional £1bn into HMRC, criminal prosecutions for tax evasion have increased fivefold. These figures send a clear message that we will not put up with tax evasion.”
“Criminal records and prison sentences are not just an idle threat. In fact the increasing volume of criminal prosecutions is one of the measures by which HMRC now judges its success.
“Whilst public attention has recently been focused on tax planning by corporates and high-net-worths the legal profession is seeing a marked increase in criminal cases.”
The tax campaigner Richard Murphy recently calculated that £119.4bn of UK tax went unpaid, avoided or evaded in the financial year 2013/14, with evasion totalling £82.1bn.
Tax avoidance is legal while evasion is a criminal act, though crackdowns on aggressive and artificial avoidance scams have blurred the lines between the two.
“If taxpayers do not come forward to clear up their past non-compliance, or if they continue to fail to comply with their obligations in this new era of transparency, then they must face tough consequences. One of these consequences should be the realistic threat of a criminal conviction.”
Source: theguardian- Revenue & Customs set to miss target for prosecution of tax evaders
