Private tutor not paying tax??

[Sudburyswan]

Hi,

we use a private tutor for our son -just an hour per week. A nice guy who works at a local secondary school. He also tutors some friends kids and I’d estimate he’s earning £100 during term time on top of his teaching salary.

When he was here last weekend I was working in my tax return and I was moaning!! He made the comment “ I’m glad I don’t have to do that”- well surely he should be?

I know he’ll get the £1000 trading allowance but I still reckon he’s got 3-4 k of potential undeclared income. We pay him by bank transfer too.

I’m in two minds whether to report this.

surely hmrc’s systems will pick up this money entering his account??

If he isn’t declaring it then he should - the amount of undeclared income in this country is obscene and people seem to forget that services that they expect do have to be paid for somehow. HMRC are bringing in 5000 more compliance officers but it’s a drop in the ocean and sadly services will continue to struggle because taxes aren’t being paid on income.

Private tuition can be feast or famine. There are busy times in the year and quiet times. He may not be earning as much as you think across the year.

I doubt he’s making £80k+ tutoring… even if it was VATable.

That isn't how it works. Tutoring provided by a sole trader, providing it's a common school subject is exempt.

Even if it wasn't, he'd need to be turning over 90k in a rolling 12 month period before he has to register for VAT.

He's paying tax through his teaching job. It's not like he's on the dole and earning a big wad of cash on the sly. Leave the poor guy alone. It's none of your business. If you're not happy then don't use him as a tutor.

These aren’t the people to be going after.

and if they are they are incredibly far down the list after all the very wealthy tax avoiders, slightly less but still very wealthy tax avoiders and then the rest and so on and so on . Why go after people right at the end of the problem when investigation money would get low hanging fruit from a huge proportion of significant tax avoiders. It begs belief

I think it would be dreadfully unkind to report him! I mean he's a teacher topping up his salary very minimally.....the effort involved to declare this would be a pain in the arse so he may not be paying tax on it but it's really not your business.....

And if he's paying it all into a private pension?

Giving it to charity?

OP has no idea about his tax affairs and they aren’t his responsibility.

If it makes you feel better OP cancel the tutoring

Wow do people like you actually exist. What a snake. Mind your own business and you don't even know for sure he is going anything wrong

I say report him. The more people ensure that all work has tax paid on it, the more money the government will have for the NHS, education etc. if he has a “regular” job as well, his employer will pay tax under the PAYE system. He should pay quite a bit of tax as the income is marginal tax.

I hope they really start to crack down on all tex cheaters. Hopefully once one person reports him, they can get the details from all others who have paid as well. If they levy a fine all everyone who cheats on their taxes or facilitate other cheating, it will be a nice little earner for the treasury,

Anyone defending people who don’t declare income should take a look at HMRC’s tax gap figures - every income, big or small, should be declared and the appropriate level of tax paid. Otherwise, stop complaining about the state of the NHS, education, social care, roads, emergency services etc etc etc etc.

I tutor (very little ) and pay an accountant to do it. I have friends who sort it themselves and everyone one of them complains every single year. It is worth it to me to not have the hassle no matter how 'easy' I have been told it is. He could well be in the same position. You don't know he doesn't have someone who does it for him even if this is a partner or friend. It's unlikely he has a trading allowance and will pay tax on it as a second income.

If he doesn’t charge enough to be able to pay tax on his earnings, his business model is wrong. He should then increase his prices.

I'm glad I don't have to do my tax return ! Phew - I did it in April!
I'm glad I'm not all stressed about my Tax Return - my DH does mine for me.
I'm glad I don't have to do that - I pay an accountant who handles all our family's financial affairs.
OR - I'm glad I don't have to do that because I'm a tax dodger and am not paying tax on a net profit of about £60 per week.

So which might it be? Hopefully the latter and you can gleefully report him! (And don't forget to report yourself as an accomplice - knowingly paying someone under the table!!)

PS do you have an Amazon account??

Get a life! Seriously!

This

Of course you can. And then HMRC will either investigate, or not.

Mind your business.

Hes earning a bit of extra pocket money not dodging millions in taxes and living the high life.

His wife probably does his tax return. Many of my friends have husbands that are self employed and they run their books, do their taxes for them so they can be out earning more.

It’s private education provision so, yes, he should be paying tax

It is hard to believe that people like the OP exist. Mind your own business. Unbelievable.

How can you get hot and bothered about this , he s paying tax through his full time job.
If all teachers paid tax on afternoon grinds there would be no teachers available for these kind of grinds , it would not be worth their while .

If you pay him by BACS rather than cash and he's not declaring it then he's an idiot. It is however none of your business. Maybe his Mum is an accountant and sorts it all for him!

How can anyone decide that this tutor is definitely not paying the correct tax based on that single comment?? Baffling,

@Sudburyswan if you think he's dodgy and want to report him to HMRC are you also going to stop using him to tutor??

I cannot believe all people who believe that it is ok to cheat on taxes. What if everyone does this?

We need all the money we can have in this country, people get refused medical treatment on the NHS, schools are underfunded, and state pensions are barely possible to live on.

Everyone need to pay their share.