Gov To Target Tax Cheats

Tax cheats with overseas property are now being targeted by a 200-strong team of investigators and specialists, according to the tax office.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) said on Monday that a newly-formed team had started work this month, bringing together experts from across the department to identify areas where wealthy individuals are avoiding and evading taxes and duties.

Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, David Gauke, said: "The Government is committed to tackling tax evasion and avoidance across all areas of the economy. That is why we allocated HMRC £917m to reduce the tax gap over the next four years in the last Spending Review. This new team is part of that investment.

"With HMRC’s increased capability and expertise, and its increasing success in tackling evasion both at home and offshore, the message is clear: there is no hiding place for tax cheats."

The news comes after a worldwide charity revealed that 98% of the FTSE companies were avoiding tax by using international havens.

In a report by Action Aid on October 11, it was revealed that the banking sector makes heaviest use of tax havens, with a total of 1,649 tax haven companies between the ‘big four’ banks. The report said these banks were by far the biggest users of the Cayman Islands, where Barclays alone has 174 companies.

Chris Jordan, ActionAid’s tax justice expert said: “When multinationals use tax havens to avoid paying their fair share, ordinary people in both poor and rich countries are left to pick up the bill. Spending on doctors, nurses and other essential services gets cut for those who need it most."

However, HMRC said today that one of the first groups being targeted was wealthy individuals who own land and property abroad.

"Sophisticated data mining techniques have been applied to publicly available information to identify individuals who own property abroad," HMRC said.

The tax office added that risk assessment tools are also being used to highlight those who do not appear able to legitimately afford property, as well as those who do not appear to be declaring the correct income and gains from their property.

(DW/BMcC)