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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to report somebody for not paying tax?

155 replies

PramInspector · 07/02/2009 19:07

I'm really not sure about this one and would really appreciate some views as it is a bit of a moral dilemma which I just don't have the answer to.

I know someone (a guy) who runs his own business and who has not been declaring the large majority of his earnings (and thus not paying tax on them) for many years.

Now on the one hand, I think it is not my business to judge. On the other hand, I think this is clearly a crime which we are all paying for.

Why on earth should he get away with it? And why on earth should it be seen as any different to nicking somebody's handbag (which most people wouldn't hesitate to report and probably involves a lot less money)?

The other thing that makes this decision harder is that this guy has recently left his partner & 3 children, and I am not sure what impact it could have on them if this tax fraud was reported.

So what would you guys do?

OP posts:
nancy75 · 07/02/2009 19:08

how do you know?

tumtumtetum · 07/02/2009 19:11

I would feel absolutely outraged.

No sure what I'd actually do though..

i think there is an anonymous line you can report people on now if that helps.

I mean it is illegal and he is stealing money from the state ie from everyone else, so not sure why people so often see it as somehow not very bad...

HecateQueenOfGhosts · 07/02/2009 19:11

I would report it.

It makes me very cross that some people feel they don't have to contribute like everyone else. (most of my rage is reserved for big business and fat cats who use top accountants to find 'legal' ways to hang onto it )

I'd report it because it's unfair and it's WRONG.

tiredsville · 07/02/2009 19:11

Perhaps he is trying to keep his head above water?
I would keep your nose out.

Original poster
PramInspector · 07/02/2009 19:12

He has boasted about it to me and my dh.

He seems to think that we should all do it!

OP posts:
EldonAve · 07/02/2009 19:13

report him

LongDroopyBoobyLady · 07/02/2009 19:13

I'd mind my own business.

LucyEllensmummy · 07/02/2009 19:13

Agree with tiredsville, unless he is driving around in a sports car and lives in a stately pile - keep your nose out! How do you KNOW he is not paying tax?

HecateQueenOfGhosts · 07/02/2009 19:14

we're all trying to keep our heads above water. If we all avoid tax, who pays for the schools and hospitals and pensions??

And given that we can't all do it, or the country can't run, who gets to choose who's allowed to opt out because they feel like it? Because they're hard up? Everyone else can pay so I don't have to? Not on, imo.

tumtumtetum · 07/02/2009 19:14

Can I stop paying tax when I need to keep my head above water please tiredsville?

I'll never forget a thing I heard on the radio about child poverty. There was this terrible stasistic which was something like 7 out of every 10 children live below the poverty line (or some other unbelievably high amount).

The person responding said the statistic had since been revealed as inaccurate, as many people were better off than indicated, "due to the way many self-employed people declare their earnings".

expatinscotland · 07/02/2009 19:14

I'd grass him.

Wouldn't have a problem with that at all.

It's no fun to pay tax. Tough shit. Everyone's gotta do it.

What makes him so special he doesn't?

LongDroopyBoobyLady · 07/02/2009 19:15

What people boast about and what is the actual truth are usually 2 different things.

RealityIsMyOnlyValentine · 07/02/2009 19:15

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

expatinscotland · 07/02/2009 19:15

Also if he's not declaring his full earnings, then he's also fucking over his ex partner and kids when it comes to calculating his income to assess what his contribution to his kids should be.

NAB09 · 07/02/2009 19:16

Someone I used to be friends with was definitely not paying full tax and I hated it that I felt I couldn't report them.

tumtumtetum · 07/02/2009 19:16

Tax avoidance is legal, tax evasion is not.

If he is doing it through loopholes that's legal.

If he is lying about his income/offsetting non-existant things etc that is illegal.

it always amazes me that people think this is fine. They seem to think it's clever to stop "the taxman" getting your money. "The taxman" = NHS, schools, pensions, you name it...

LongDroopyBoobyLady · 07/02/2009 19:17

PramInspector are you the ex by any chance?

sorrento · 07/02/2009 19:18

He won't be paying enough maintenace either which is why he's not declaring his true earnings.

MrsFogi · 07/02/2009 19:18

But anyone who pays a cleaner, workman etc cash in hand should probably be reporting themselves and/or the cleaner.

Original poster
PramInspector · 07/02/2009 19:19

See now, I think I have to agree with Hecate.

Where does this 'keep your nose out of everything' attitude come from in this country?

If we all did that, then anyone could get away with anything and no-one would ever be witness to any crime.

I think the sad fact of the matter though is that Valentine is probably right.

OP posts:
hf128219 · 07/02/2009 19:19

Don?t hesitate, call the Customs Hotline on Tel 0800 59 5000

tiredsville · 07/02/2009 19:19

Is this a fat cat, or a fruit and veg stall owner?
To be honest, if I was to grass every business I know that doesn't declare every penny, I would be on the phone night and day, everyday.

RealityIsMyOnlyValentine · 07/02/2009 19:20

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

tumtumtetum · 07/02/2009 19:20

Helpline here

Although reality is right, they very rarely go after people. There was something in the paper recently with a bloke from HMRC saying that they knew of about 50 very high earning people (i think maybe they were solicitors) who claimed to earn very little and they knew it was rubbish but didn't do anything. One bloke who earned stacks put in a tax return every year saying he had earnt nothing and they still didn't do anything...

Makes the rest of us, who PAYE and/or are honest, feel like a bunch of mugs. I hate it.

tumtumtetum · 07/02/2009 19:22

If every fruit and veg stall owner paid their taxes as they should maybe it would add up to enough to make more cancer drugs available or something.

i really don't understand this attitude. it is dishonest, illegal and immoral whichever way you look at it.

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