Would you report someone for working a second job cash in hand

[dammit88]

…. And not paying tax? Earning around £100-200 extra per week on top of their normal pays job.

has anyone ever done this? Did anything happen?

No I would never report someone for something like that

Now you're being deliberately obtuse. The parts you are choosing to focus on are increases and decreases, not the overall figures. Plus, as already highlighted, do not take into consideration those corporations who choose to take advantage of tax havens.

I've no idea what your issue is with me but I'm going to say one final time... I think anyone arguing that it's right to report a low paid person trying to make a little extra cash is lacking any human decency and lives a life of arrogant, privilege.

So the law doesn’t apply to low earners?

Large corporates are subject to audits, regulation and press scrutiny in a way that small businesses are not. The OECD’s BEPS project has removed a huge amount of any benefits from investing via “tax havens,” and in the UK we had the Transfer Pricing rules, Controlled Foreign Companies rules, Diverted Profits Tax and The Banking Code of Practice on Taxation for Banks before that came into effect.

Can you name a large corporate which has been proven to have engaged in tax evasion?

Even if you could, large corporates could run similar arguments - they were “just saving money that the government would otherwise have wasted” to “invest, grow their business and create jobs.” Their share price increases benefit pensioners.

Perhaps we should all stop paying taxes!

No.

No i would not.
We are living in harsh times , the government have little to no idea how hard things are for so many ,bills keep going up ,do what you have to to support your family and keep quiet about it .

The issue though isnt the person taking the job its the employer who presumably is not declaring what they are doing for Tax etc

Possibly no employers liability insurance etc etc

I don't think this is what is discussed here.

It is about he type of scenario where someone has a regular job where they pay tax and also does additional bits of work on the side like baby sitting, cleaning, gardening, dog walking where they are paid cash in hand by their clients.

It is not about dodgy employers not following employment laws.

No way. That’s a horrible thing to do. They’re not doing it for fun.

20 yrs ago.... maybe

Now? In this climate?
Not a chance I'd bother even if I didnt like them.

Those of you saying that someone struggling to make ends meet who does a bit of dog walking or cleaning for cash alongside their other full-time job deserves to be reported - how about the OP just gets herself some benefits by lying instead? Does that make you happier?

Oh give over. The money issues this country has, are entirely down to corrupt arseholes in positions of power, not someone just trying to survive. Get over yourself.

No, they will be spending this money in the local economy, not like say Vodaphone who avoided 7bn in taxes by using tax havens in other countries.

They are also working, not sleeping during the day, gaming at night and claiming UC.

Or the boss of The Range who gave his wife 100s of millions to avoid tax, she took the money to Jersey, not a penny spend here in the UK.

No I wouldn’t report but I would advise them against it if I knew them well enough. Only because I’m a tax adviser so I see first hand the mess people can get in to in situations like this. HMRC are using new methods of collecting data all the time - including looking at social media etc. If you do get caught, it is very easy to rack up penalties and interest. I personally don’t think it’s worth the risk.

And if their bank were to find out, the bank would have to withdraw all banking services.

The key difference being that Vodafone was in dispute with HMRC over the application of the Controlled Foreign Companies legislation. Vodafone was not hiding money from HMRC and did not commit tax evasion.

HMRC officials and the company strongly disputed the £6bn-£7bn figure, calling it an "urban myth" and stating that the liability was never that high. Vodafone paid a settlement of £1.25bn, thereby meeting their tax liabilities in full.

Vodafone’s accounts are subject to external audit and public scrutiny. They, like all large companies, are required to publish their tax strategy - Vodafone’s can be found here: https://www.vodafone.com/research-articles/vodafone-tax-principles-and-strategy

This is in contrast to the black economy where money is not declared at all and no tax is paid thereon, which is a criminal offence. Perpetrators can only get away with it due to lack of public scrutiny.

No! Ffs.

It's hardly 'business practices' - most people pocketing cash for a side hustle are doing a little cleaning or gardening or dog walking. Frankly, it costs HMRC more to keep track of small change like that than they would ever recover.

It depends on their reason. I’ve reported a man who was doing similar to avoid paying as much maintenance for his children.

I think if it’s little second job to provide essentials for say a single mum,
that’s very different to someone doing it full time and not paying child maintenance isn’t it?

If all were fair in the world, then yes, of course they should be paying tax on all their earnings, but quite honestly, I am so fed up of seeing how the rich doge their tax responsibilities by ‘employing’ their spouse, how massive, multi million pound organisations get away with not paying and how having a ‘good accountant’ means you can get away with not paying tax on all your earnings, that no, I would not report someone who was desperate enough to work a second job because they needed the extra cash (when let’s face it, most of us have better things we wish to be doing in the evenings and weekends than a second job).

What would the people who run the "economy" do on the extra £30 per week tax they took from a single mum taking in her neighbour's ironing? A lot less good than she could do with it for her children.

There is a social contract - we pay taxes, the government uses them to provide e.g. schooling, health care, housing, police and stuff. That social contract is breaking down, especially where housing is concerned.

Not according to the tax gap data. HMRC’s costs amount to about £0.05 for every £1 of tax collected.

What does costs HMRC far more than processing self assessment returns is tracking down tax evaders!

We could all make that argument - should we all stop paying taxes?

True.

Nope.

But, if I pay taxes, I expect value for money from the goverment; and that has been lacking lately.

PAYE job - you pay taxes.

If you don't have a PAYE job but have an income stream, you declare it, do the paperwork, pay taxes.

If you have a PAYE job and a side-gig income stream, you decide whether it is worth your while to do the side gig, if it means extra paper-work (and/or accountant fees) and taxes.

If a single parent decides to spend her evening ironing the next-door neighbour's shirts instead of putting her feet up - we should be more concerned about why she's in that dire financial state than worrying about her not paying tax on the £2.50 per shirt.

People who work but pay no tax while earning (more than) enough to live on - different case.

I'm also thinking of that case , a few years ago, where a couple of women did a job- share, and had a reciprocal arrangement to provide child care for each other when they were off shift. And the tax man decided this was a taxable benefit, so they had to abandon their arrangement.

Income tax in the UK is a very recent idea (1799) but has been a very successful meme. And is in danger of expanding to cover any aspect of human.interavtion.