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Tax evasion hotline gets 300 calls every day

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1st Aug 2012
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A tax evasion phone line set up by HMRC has received 412,111 reports over the last five years, according to data obtained by Bloomsbury Professional.That equates to 300 reports every working day during the most recent tax year.

The tax evasion hotline was set up in 2005 to allow businesses and members of the public to report suspected tax evasion via a telephone hotline or HMRC’s website.

Bloomsbury Professional, which said that it obtained the information through the Freedom of Information Act, said that the sheer volume of calls underscores how widespread concerns over tax evasion have become over the last few years.

There is a concern, however, that many of the calls could be malicious and that too few lead to formal enquiries, Bloomsbury said.

Martin Casimir, managing director of Bloomsbury Professional, said: “It’s a staggering volume of calls. With incomes for many having stagnated while the tax burden has risen, the feeling that everyone should pay their fair share has clearly resonated.”

HMRC was unable to disclose how many of these reports had led to investigations and how much additional tax was collected, Bloomsbury said.

The number of calls is still more than double the number HMRC anticipated, and the return on this kind of intelligence is likely to be quite disappointing.

An HMRC spokesperson said: “HMRC has a responsibility to ensure everyone pays the tax that they owe, and clamping down on those who try to cheat the system is a key priority.

“We value the information we receive from the public through the tax evasion hotline, and all information is analysed and a decision made on the most appropriate course of action.”

A report published in 2008 by the National Audit Office found that in 2006/07, HMRC collected just £2.6m in tax based on calls to its tax-evasion phone line, Bloomsbury said.

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By AddsUP2Me
07th Aug 2012 06:12

It is well known that HMRC do very little about compliance and if anything the hotline will have led to people realising that nothing gets done so they may as well join in with those that evade taxes, safe in the knowledge that they wont get a tap on the shoulder or knock at the door.

Perhaps a few will comply, but far more are realising they don't need to.

And.no.I.am.not.included.in.the.fraudsters.I do things.by.the.book.

A book that is rarely thrown at anyone that needs it.

 

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By mikefleming3028
02nd Aug 2012 09:43

HMRC hotline

If HMRC regard clamping down on those who cheat the system as part of  their role then who are we to disagree, its part and parcel of their compliance role and I dont have a problem with this at all however I would suggest that anon tips to their hot line would have a lot less substance that reports made by those who have a statutory obligation to do so under the Proceeds of Crime Legislation. My experience with POCA is in general practice and you average HMRC Trained Inspector knows very little if anything at all about this aspect of our everyday working life. If HMRC want some worthwhile results I think that they might consider re-tasking some of their 30 current task force members (who are these people anyway? ) to actually read some of the thousands of POC reports that must be languishing in a warehouse somewhere. I would have thought that with Mr. Osborne`s 2012/13 Remit letter insisting on an £7Billion increase on last year’s compliance take HMRC`s first port of call would be the" low hanging fruit" i.e. POCA. reports.

I see that as part of helping children to understand their responsibilities as a citizen of this Country HMRC have joined in the process and are doing their bit. One of the questions asked is "can you think of any instances where tax should have been paid and appeared not to have been" anyone with a rudimentary grasp of history might well disturbed at the direction that this might take us.

Your average HMRC employee appears to me to be both loyal and hardworking and do their jobs despite swinging cuts in staff budgets and the goal posts being chanced almost every week but until Senior Management demonstrate an understanding of what the Departments role is then we can expect more cries for more intrusive Legislation to "help" them do their job. Well I have news for HMRC`s Chief exec,Commissiones,old and new, Directors and other highly paid time servers, you have got all the legislative powers you will ever need all you have to do is read and understand them, formulate a strategy, win the confidence of your staff, focus, and try not to let self-serving media hungry Politicians blow you off course.

Simples!!!

 

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By AddsUP2Me
02nd Aug 2012 20:28

I know of someone who has paid their employees cash in hand for 20 years and not declared everything they earn.

In Jan their ex-employee directly told me and others about having nothing in writing relating to their employment lasting over a decade. They had not been given a P45 and claimed to want one. They were telling people plenty about other employees being cash in hand. They then went back to work for the employer. It seems obvious they have all been in a conspiracy to defraud for years. The employee probably had a fall-out with them, but couldn't get an official job without the HMRC asking difficult questions..

People that know about it in town reported the set-up giving lots of detail.The last reported meeting where people exchanged information to pass on numbered 10+ angry tax payers. How long before people decide they cant beat them so they may as well join them?

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