Clamping down on those who try to cheat the system through evading taxes is a key priority for HMRC and since 2005 over £42 million has been recovered as a result of information received directly from members of the public through the taxman’s confidential hotlines. The money is put back into the system to fund vital public services.

Information received through the hotlines has led to the recovery of 320kg of class A drugs, along with 27 million illegal cigarettes and 9.7 tonnes of hand rolling tobacco, which is equivalent to £6 million of revenue.

This new facility, enabling members of the public to raise their concerns online, builds on HMRC’s cross tax approach to compliance, helping to identify and tackle high-risk cases early on. Under its new behaviourally based system of penalties HMRC can now charge penalties of up to 100pc for those individuals who deliberately evade tax.

Rt Hon Stephen Timms MP, Financial Secretary to the Treasury, said: “We are committed to ensuring the tax system operates fairly and efficiently, and encourage anyone to share their information on activities they think may be unlawful. Reporting your concerns online is quick and easy. By doing so you will be helping us to catch people who are unfairly competing with honest businesses and denying funding for essential public services.

“Being able to report potential tax evasion online is just the latest step in demonstrating that for tax cheats the game is up.

“Information provided by the public is important and HMRC takes all allegations seriously.”
 
Source: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk