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?

But we need a government that will not allow billionaires and multinationals to live in a tax-free world. It will probably work better when nations act together rather than trying to undercut each other so that everybody loses

Agree totally, but that is a long way off unfortunately.

It doesn't matter what OP's motivation is, on MN apparently personal anecdotes only count unless it is gushing praises of someone.

No matter what you feel about this person, incurring bad karma by reporting him / her for "suspected" tax evasion is almost certainly a bad move. You also need to be wary of falling foul of defamation and false accusation suits if your suspicion is misfounded and your identity discovered. NB: you have said enough in the thread to make any reporting seem malicious (if unfounded) and nothing to indicate why your suspicion may have substance

knight
No matter what you feel about this person, incurring bad karma by reporting him / her for "suspected" tax evasion is almost certainly a bad move.
Please explain the "bad karma" from stopping a criminal
You also need to be wary of falling foul of defamation and false accusation suits if your suspicion is misfounded and your identity discovered.
What ?
Have you read the form that two of us have linked above?
It is totally and utterly anonymous.
HMRC NEVER say what they do from the information.

FWIW as somebody who is MLR registered, its a crime for me not to report

Report her! I am self-employed. I get paid in cash almost always but I dutifully write down every session in my diary and then do my tax return. If I am honest she should be too!

I do get the impression that the tone of this thread seems to have moved more towards reporting her.

The more one reflect on it the more distasteful it becomes

One can only hope that cash eventually gets phased out so all transactions in theory can be traced, this would of course make tax evasion more difficult.

But I am sure as there is a hole in my 4r5e that the naughty people will find a way around it

I believe in Norway they publish tax returns.

That would be interesting !!!

Agree with WhollyFather

If you suspect she is on the fiddle, report her. You don't even need to be sure or have any evidence. HMRC will investigate and, if everything is above board, she will be fine.

I'm amazed at the number of posters saying keep your nose out and that it's none of your business. I can only assume that none of these posters has ever bemoaned the loss or reduction of any public service, has never complained that the local Surestart centre is closing down, never felt frustrated that they can't get a doctors appointment the next day, never complained about the state of the roads, or the reduction of kerbside rubbish collections.

Either they are all on the fiddle themselves or they really are delighted to be paying for somebody else's services as well as their own. Or maybe they're just a bit thick!

Everybody should pay their taxes. Somebody give me a reason why this woman should not have to? Public services depend on it. Next time you need an appointment and wonder why it takes so long, think of this woman funding her lifestyle with our taxes. Geez, why don't people get it?

OP, take your own feelings out of it, report her because its the right thing to do

My ex was dodgy as hell alongside being a genuine grade A tosser... he'd move money between his company account to an offshore account and to his personal account, or would ask for his clients to pay in cash etc.
I knew what he was doing and he also photoshopped his bank statements for his mortgage company and whenever his accountant needed them. He was corrupt as they come. I'm glad I binned him!

I heard that he lost his home and cars as his company went into administration and his new girlfriend is having to put up with him being in her house 24/7! (his sister told me!)

What goes around, comes back around.

I just wish that I'd of reported him instead of pretending he didn't exist!

Is there any way she can track it back to you? If no, then report her. She'll sure as hell be using things paid for by tax.

OP if you are not prepared to put your name to this accusation it hardly screams of your 100% certainty...

MYOB

Knight, ffs.

No matter what you feel about this person, incurring bad karma by reporting him / her for "suspected" tax evasion is almost certainly a bad move.

God I wish people would look up what karma actually is. This word, I do not think it means what you think it means.

You also need to be wary of falling foul of defamation and false accusation suits if your suspicion is misfounded and your identity discovered.

God I wish people would look up what defamation actually is. This word, I do not think it means what you think it means.

NB: you have said enough in the thread to make any reporting seem malicious (if unfounded) and nothing to indicate why your suspicion may have substance

I think OP has excellent reasons for not giving huge amounts of identifying detail away on here (as one who mentioned defamation, this is the one part you ought to have understood). It's irrelevant to the question she's posing, which is that she has reason to believe this woman is committing tax fraud, and should she report her? If there is enough evidence to investigate, HMRC will. If there isn't, she won't. OP would not be bringing the charges if they are brought - that would be the CPS.

Fgs.

doubleshot
OP if you are not prepared to put your name to this accusation it hardly screams of your 100% certainty...
What utter rubbish.
Nobody on here is posting with their real name and home post code.
Why should the OP?

HMRC deliberately do not ask for the name of the reporter on the form
so that they have no obligation to that person.
If they do nothing with the form it is their choice.

I personally wouldn't report anyone, because I just wouldn't.

But I disagree with the posters saying "it's none of your business" benefit fraud and tax evasion costs millions added up and it's just not on (big and small.)

Bet she's a Psychic.

I mentioned about tax returns being published in Norway and I have found the following article which is quite interesting

qz.com/784186/in-norway-you-can-browse-everyones-tax-returns-but-theres-a-good-reason-you-might-not-want-to/

OP if you are not prepared to put your name to this accusation it hardly screams of your 100% certainty...

What utter bollocks. People should be allowed to report crimes or suspected crimes without fear of repercussions.

sleep

Yes you're right. And HMRC can issue a determination if you ignore.

There are failure to notify charges as well.

I work my arse off as an inspector to collect money to build hospitals, schools and generally improve the public sector services. I also genuinely believe in the work I do. Absolutely report OP.

tryinghard
That article is fascinating. Transparency cutting both ways.

mounyaan
As an accountant I spent my hours minimising my clients' bills that they have to give you
but I do it legally : planning and avoidance are a million miles from evasion.

Ta1kin

yuuuuuup! I spend my days arguing the legislation with you lot

Please give us an update OP. Tax dodging makes us all potential victims. Don't complain about the deteriorating NHS if you support tax dodging.

You also need to be wary of falling foul of defamation and false accusation suits if your suspicion is misfounded and your identity discovered.

Bullshit.

HMRC is so tightly controlled in terms of information flow that employees have one specific office to contact for their own affairs within HMRC - they take privacy/confidentiality incredibly seriously and rightly so. Defamation means spreading unfounded and malicious gossip in print or verbally, not whistle-blowing in confidence to the relevant authorities. This is absolutely nothing to do with defamation. It's not even in the same ballpark. It's assisting the state in apprehending a potential thief.

And there is no such thing as a 'false allegation suit'. We are not Americans.

Karma? Google is your friend. And even if Karma did mean what you think it does, someone reporting another for stealing money from schools, hospitals, free school meals and welfare for the truly needy would be rewarded under your notional faith system - any fallout would be the lot of the scummy thief.

Moun my eldest bursts with pride over DH's job. When asked what his Dad does, he says, "My Dad makes sure we have enough money for schools, hospitals and the fire brigade."

I can't believe that anyone would tell you not to report this.

Tax evasion costs the UK billions per year. It should NEVER be tolerated, no matter how you feel about the person involved.

If you report her and she has done nothing wrong then you still haven't done anything wrong considering you are reporting your suspicions. If, on the other hand, she HAS been doing something wrong, you have tried to stop someone who is happy to take money away from public services for their own gain - you haved helped to stop a thief.

I'd absolutely report her and I wouldn't feel the least bit guilty.

sleep that's lovely to hear. The people I work with really do work tirelessly and take it really seriously. Obviously we're not entirely well liked by many but without us the tax gap would be even bigger than it is.

Thankyou mounyaandyiolanda