Can you get done for tax evasion on a small amount?

[SoyaTea]

We are talking approximately £5 - £20 per month of undeclared income from a YouTube channel?

Thank you for any replies in advance.

In the event you're found out, it would be a matter of repaying whatever tax you should have paid, by arrangement. They're not going to take you to court over it.

I believe that HMRC can charge interest and impose a penalty without taking you to court. So you won't just be liable for the unpaid tax but also interest and a % penalty.

In reality though that's about £40 of tax per year. Assuming you spend that £40 on goods attracting VAT then the taxman's more like £32 down per year. It would probably cost the public purse more than that just for them to write you a letter. So whilst they could do it, I suspect that it would be rather wasteful of public funds to do so.

These days it is so easy to set up as a sole trader and submit simplified accounts. If the earnings are that low then you will probably have justifiable business expenses which mean you pay little to no tax, or even get a discount on any PAYE tax, so it could actually be in your favour to declare it.