To report her for tax evasion?

[hooveringhamabeads]

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?

Definitely report her. She may be also liable for N.I. Contributions. Will she not want her pension in later years'?

Plot twist, I suspect the OP is the evader!! hence her forensic knowledge of all matters....

Dog walkers, dog boarders are always paid in cash. £1k a week easy enough. £25 overnight for 4 of them (which is what the woman I know does, is £100 a night straight away).

Walking is £15. Walk three in morning and three in afternoon and that's another £90 per day.

All tax free.

Just because people are being paid in cash doesn't mean they're not declaring it.

Dog walkers, dog boarders are always paid in cash. £1k a week easy enough

That's based on being consistently busy 52 weeks of the year and doesn't account for expenses of running the business.

hoovering

I am a tax inspector for HMRC.

Report her. I catch these people for a living and they're happy to turn up in an NHS hospital and expect to be treated but aren't willing to contribute. They rely on the rest of us to slog it out.

To those who say mind your own business...that is the worst attitude to take. Why should decent, honest and hardworking people subsidise those who cheat the system at every turn? And trust me they do.

I don't really understand people saying they wouldn't

I don't understand it either. Unless you're a tax evader yourself, why would you accept paying the full whack while knowing the person down the street is not? Why do they deserve to keep a higher proportion of their income than you?

No she probably won't go to prison.
However if this were a lone parent doing a few hours cleaning for example accumulating a couple of thousand of pounds just to survive. She'd be more likely to go to prison and Her kids would be taken into care.
This is exactly what I mean about. One rule for the rich and another for the poor

All this 'mind your own business' is rubbish! Where do you draw the line?

Tax evasion is serious. If you genuinely think she's guilty then report your suspicions. Motives are irrelevant.

I also say report, a thief is a thief.

Out of interest, I believe someone I know has been working cash in hand and used to claim tax credits whilst their children were young.
Would HMRC still investigate 'historic' benefit fraud?

I'm self-employed and pay every bloody penny of the taxes due - that's what honest, decent people do. They pay their way and provide the extra cash needed to support people who need help.

Report her - if she is doing nothing wrong then there is no harm done. If she is cheating the system, then she deserves everything that comes to her.

disco

Yes HMRC would investigate

Sorry I should add disco
There are strict rules about how far back these things can be tracked. It's mainly dependent on their perceived behaviour. Deliberate is 20 years. I work with people's self assessment but I imagine benefit fraud may have the same timescales

Would you report a theft or someone dishonestly claiming benefit, if yes then yes report. I would

Does it matter what your motives are? Tax evasion is illegal, immoral and should be reported regardless of your reasons why! If I didn't like a drink driver / drug dealer / sex offender and reported them to the police with slightly malicious intent what does it matter?! Crime is crime. Additionally, you might not be 100% sure she is a tax dodger but HMRC won't convict her based on your suspicions alone, they will investigate and if they find any wrongdoing they will act on their evidence.

Let me get this correct - she does something legal, posts about it / advertises on social media but only declares a miniature amount of her actual earnings? But she is paid in cash?

Probably very hard to prove OP. Does she give invoices to her clients?

HMRC mostly can prove it, if reported, yes, even if paid in cash. They have their methods.

For them to bother to investigate she'd need to be bilking the Treasury of a substantial amount. They expect self employed people to fudge it to some extent, and it would cost more to investigate than they could claw back. But if she's making £52k a year and paying no tax at all, then they would certainly be interested in that.

Does anyone know if I did report her and she was investigated whether or not she is told that they are investigating her for possible fraud

HMRC will not say that there investigation is a result of a tip off - on that I am 100% certain

They will imply it is a result of a random selection

Should add that DH works for HMRC. In the Fraud department, in fact. I can back up what Moun says - HMRC would be interested.

You might be reporting her, but it's others around her that will truly suffer.

Think very carefully about it as this might just be the sort of thing that weighs very heavily on your shoulder. And, if you're wrong (which you might be), you'll put someone through a lot of stress just out of spite.

Personally, I wouldn't...but your conscience is your own to deal with.

Always amazed at the depth of sympathy for tax fraudsters on here!

Report her. HMRC will confirm her innocence quickly enough.

So, according to what you are saying 1) she is mean 2) she tax evades i.e. is twice as horrible as a person. I have known of horrible & privileged people who have reported disabled benefits claimants for "earning loads". In this case it seems that there is a chance that the bad person will be punished instead! I am kind of excited TBH

To me the tax evasion bothers me less than the claiming tax credits on top of it. It's one thing to wrongfully not pay into the system but it's a lot worse to do that plus also wrongfully take from the system

Tax evasion and benefits cheat destroy motivation for those who play by the rules and we need people to work to create employment and to pay taxes to enable our society to function

But benefits cheats do seem worse and I think this is because there is a purposeful attempt to extract money from the system. Going for interviews and lying about your circumstances making up stories to avoid work etc . Tax evasion is seen as a lesser crime (unless very large) as it involves often doing nothing i.e not getting the laptop out to file the return

If I ruled the world I would make people write out in their own handwriting and submit their tax return with the following (a bit tongue in cheek but you get my drift):

"I declare that I have thought carefully for a few hours and reviewed my records and I confirm that I have disclosed all my income and gains I also set out on Schedule A a list of the 20 most expensive transactions I have been a party to"

So no online filing of returns in my world because of that - but I think a good few people would not be so comfortable about omitting income if such wording was proposed

Yanbu!!!

As others have said, tax evasion is serious, and its shitty. Tax avoiders are getting the services for free that the rest of us pay for through our taxes. Which isn't fair.

I don't care what your motivations are, ultimately I don't like tax avoiders or benefit fraudsters and I want them ALL reported and caught.

I can't believe there are actually people on here who are happy to let the tax evasion go unreported and genuinely think pettiness/being a grass is worse than tax evasion. Unbelievable. 🤷‍♀️