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Original poster

To report her for tax evasion?

537 replies

hooveringhamabeads · 20/08/2017 12:32

I know of someone who is making around £1k a week, but hardly declares any of her income (she doesn't pay any tax at all so declaring less that £10k of it). She also claims tax credits.

I don't particularly like this person and am tempted to report her. Problem is, pretty much all the money she receives is in cash, so is there any way that the HMRC would actually be able to prove or disprove what she's earning?

OP posts:
minipie · 20/08/2017 21:29

I like snitches. If they help things be fairer.

MadMags · 20/08/2017 21:30

The only way you could know for absolute sure that she's making that much, is if you're close enough to her for her to confide in you.

You also say that you think someone else will be blamed for reporting her, but you're still not willing to admit to being the one to do it.

And your motivation is because she's not very nice.

Hmm. Report if you wish but I think you should ease off on the "I'm not a spiteful person" posts, tbh.

PoorYorick · 20/08/2017 21:30

And Ketchup, along with an alarming number of other people, appears to like tax evaders, criminals, or whatever rodent is appropriate.

Christmastree43 · 20/08/2017 21:32

100% report. Get some sweet revenge and do the right thing.

Sallystyle · 20/08/2017 21:32

What exactly has this person done that you want so badly to destroy them?

Hmm

If the OP is correct then of course she should be reported. If it 'destroys' her then that is her fault for being a cheat isn't it?

Why should anyone keep that information to themselves? You're a part of a problem if you just sit on that information and do nothing about it.

Ketchup123 · 20/08/2017 21:35

The amount of tax she isn't paying is not going to affect your life in the slightest. It's just typical middle class moralising.

Go after the big companies avoiding billions. Not some woman keeping an extra few quid.

PollytheDolly · 20/08/2017 21:36

Not only evading tax but the audacity to claim tax credits too?!

Taking the piss out of everyone.

IfYouGoDownToTheWoodsToday · 20/08/2017 21:38

"No one likes a snitch" Hmm. Have I wondered back to the eastend of London, circa 1960s?

OP of course you should report this person. They are breaking the law.

CastIronCookware · 20/08/2017 21:40

The amount of tax she isn't paying is not going to affect your life in the slightest. It's just typical middle class moralising.

Maybe not the OP, but it will affect honest small business owners who the tax evader is undercutting and might put out of business.

user997799779977 · 20/08/2017 21:42

Report her! Ignore the PPs, do the right thing.

redsquirrel2 · 20/08/2017 21:42

Report her. That tax money could be going to the NHS.

Notanothergiraffe · 20/08/2017 21:45

When doing an investigation HMRC do not say who has reported or even if you have been reported at all. I am an accountant and have seen clients through this where we have suspected who reported but we never actually found anything out.

I would report. If she has nothing to hide then there will be no penalties for her. Granted, being part of an HMRC investigation is not pleasant for anyone, but if there is nothing to find then there is nothing to find and it will be over.

These threads always amaze me with the amount of people who say to keep out of it. At the end of the day people who commit fraud are costing all of us money. It is not right.

PoorYorick · 20/08/2017 21:45

The amount of tax she isn't paying is not going to affect your life in the slightest. It's just typical middle class moralising.

Oh, this argument. The one whereby crime is acceptable when someone else is doing it better. The theory that crimes of varying severity cannot be investigated simultaneously. The idea that a woman who knows of a crime potentially being committed should not report it because she is not also in a position to bring down global hedge funds. Plus a little studenty class rant. Full house!

I wish you'd just come out with it from the start and saved us the rodent-themed garden path.

PoorYorick · 20/08/2017 21:47

"No one likes a snitch" hmm. Have I wondered back to the eastend of London, circa 1960s?

No, but you might have wandered into a middle class basement dwelling while the universities are still on summer holidays.

Winebomb · 20/08/2017 21:48

YANBU. If you have solid proof you should report them. Wether you like the person or not doesn't even matter.

Especially if they are claiming benefits.

I always liken benefit fraud to robbing old ladies in the street, or stealing a cancer patients drugs whilst they are sleeping.

Most people wouldn't do any of the above, but it essentially has the same repercussions.

Of course "big businesses" are getting away with far more, but defrauding the system is just abhorrent and smacks of self entitlement.

Ketchup123 · 20/08/2017 21:50

Eh? You're slightly incoherent Yorick.

Main point: Don't be a dick, we're talking a tiny amount if money, not enough to make a difference to anyone except the woman herself. It's only some weird middle class sense of upholding moral decency that'smotivating ratting her out.

Ketchup123 · 20/08/2017 21:51

Why on earth would you think I was a student?

PoorYorick · 20/08/2017 21:52

Of course "big businesses" are getting away with far more, but defrauding the system is just abhorrent and smacks of self entitlement.

And as CastIron rightly pointed out, even if this individual level of fraud isn't disrupting the national economy, it could well be destroying other honest local businesses.

But according to the Ketchup rodent-themed system of justice, a crime whose impact isn't directly measurable on every individual is acceptable. My Syrian hamster agrees.

Nuttynoo · 20/08/2017 21:54

Tax avoiders should always be prosecuted. But I have to ask - are you sure she's earning what sge says she is?

Ketchup123 · 20/08/2017 21:54

Well...yes. If her crime isn't directly impacting people...then you're just being a dick by reporting her. That's exactly my point, I'm glad you've finally got it!

pinkoneblueone · 20/08/2017 21:54

Long shot but...Is she a photographer?

Ketchup123 · 20/08/2017 21:55

I'm off to bed, I hope y'all sleep smugly in your middle-class crusader beds.

PoorYorick · 20/08/2017 21:55

As others have said, Ketchup, if she is evading tax then she is likely penalising other honest local businesses.

She is stealing from the public purse and that's a crime even if you are a bit crap at it...and most of us think it's better to nip these criminals in the bud BEFORE they get to the global level of millions that they have to reach before you and your gerbils give a toss about it.

Crimes are not acceptable or unimportant just because other people do them better, and OP is not obliged to hold her tongue just because she can't also dish the dirt on some retail fat cat in his Seychelles island.

And as for 'nobody likes a snitch', well I do and so do numerous others in this thread who don't appreciate theft from public funds. So there.

CatsPurr · 20/08/2017 21:59

YANBU! Too right report her. Why people think you are being mean I don't know, if she wasn't doing anything wrong in the first place she wouldn't be open to getting into trouble. She isn't an innocent person you are deliberately making trouble for. She is a thief.

Ketchup123 · 20/08/2017 21:59

LOL! "So there!" - are you a school teacher by any chance? You certainly have that feel about you. What's with you and the rodents/gerbils/hamster? "Rat" is a pretty commonly understood term, you seem to be taking things in an unecessarily weird direction. Had you not understood the term before? It seems to be really throwing you.