Not all penalties levied by HMRC are civil, many cases are serious enough to warrant a criminal investigation. The first post in the “money” section of the gov.uk website in 2020 reflects on this. The title of the post is a giveaway:
“Busted! HMRC reveals biggest criminal cases of year 2019”
In what could be seen as a propaganda exercise HMRC are clearly underlining the fact that tax evasion of the criminal kind has their full attention.
They go on to include their top criminal cases for 2019:
- 2 wealthy professionals who attempted to steal more than £60 million through a fraudulent tax avoidance scheme. Claiming to invest in HIV research and conservation, the pair were jailed for a total of 14 and a half years.
- A Berkshire-based gang that stole £34 million in VAT and laundered £87 million. The gang – which placed proceeds from selling illicit alcohol through bank accounts in Britain, Cyprus, Hong Kong, Dubai and other countries – were jailed for more than 46 years.
- A fugitive £17 million tax fraudster who is finally behind bars. He was tracked down to his Prague hideaway and brought back to the UK to serve his 8-year sentence.
- Five people, including the former owners of a Sussex petrol station, who were sentenced for distributing and selling an estimated 4.8 million litres of illicit fuel to unsuspecting motorists, including haulage companies across the South East.
- The jailing of a former Top Gear mechanic who helped father and son tax cheats escape from the UK via ferry and Eurotunnel prior to sentencing for a £1 million VAT fraud.
- Payback time for 5 wealthy tax fraudsters who were involved in one of the UK’s biggest tax frauds.
- An apparently jobless Londoner who enjoyed a sociable lifestyle of golf and exotic holidays by dodging tax on smuggled tobacco has been jailed.
- A charity treasurer who tried to steal more than £330,000 in a Gift Aid repayment fraud and spent the money on lavish cruise holidays.
- Our work with Interpol to take apart a pan-European crime gang involved in cigarette trafficking, drug smuggling and money laundering.
More Ways To Be Caught In 2020
All in all, not a bad haul. We can expect HMRC to expand the range of their anti-tax evasion activities in 2020.
No doubt the forthcoming spring budget will have the usual sprinkling of fine print, adding more regulation to the tax code.