Sign on and risk tax bill?

mrspoppycat

I have been lurking for months and I know there are lovely people on here that may be able to answer my question.
I have been made redundant and dont know whether to sign on or not. We have an issue with DH (self employed) not having paid any tax for a number of years:eek: . Will he get caught and landed with a bill if I claim?

Thanking you for any advice given.:hello:

Stompa

mrspoppycat wrote: »

We have an issue with DH (self employed) not having paid any tax for a number of years. Will he get caught and landed with a bill if I claim?

I hope so.

fengirl_2

Job Centre and HMRC are separate. I don't see how your claim would impact on your OH, as, presumably, you would just be claiming the basics

MIMI123_2

The tax office and the jobcentre have now joined systems, think it was last year.

mrspoppycat

Thank you fengirl, thats what I was trying to find out.

Stompa, I would completely agree hes in the wrong but I have no control over his actions.

shop-to-drop

Stompa wrote: »

I hope so.

me too! :mad:

Nanuq

Chances are he'll get found out in time, so many systems are linked these days. The longer he doesn't pay, the worse the penalty will be. If you can't influence his decision then why take responsibility for it by not signing on. You presumably need the money. Poor you, it's not an easy situation and I hope you find a solution you're OK with.

LittleVoice

Even if you claim contribution-based JSA (which is therefore not means tested), you are still asked at the outset about your OH.

3plus1

I'm trying my best to be sympathetic here, but presumably you and your DH have pooled your earnings somehow over the course of your marriage. Am I right to therefore think you've profited from his deception?

If I am right in assuming that your DH knows fine well he should have been declaring his earnings to HMRC and has not done so in order to evade tax, then you've got a rocky road ahead of you. I believe that the maximum penalty for deliberate concealment is 100% and this stays the same regardless of whether or not the taxpayer makes an unprompted disclosure or is caught out. Lying outright is treated differently to just being a bit dizzy and not doing things right through carelessness.

Signing on for benefits may well result in an enquiry into your DH's tax affairs, but the sooner he gets caught, the better. Yes, he might have to pay back all of the tax he should have paid to HMRC over the years multipled twice, but going forward, he would only have to pay tax once. It's foolish to think you can both live like this forever - he'll get caught out somehow and the longer this fraud goes on, the greater the total value of the penalty applied is going to be. Given that you are married, this will end up affecting you - you can't just wipe your hands of the whole sorry matter and say you had no control over your DH so you shouldn't suffer - if he has to pay back his tax bill, he's not going to have as much money to put into the household pot as at present.

I don't work in UK personal tax, but it occurs to me that a tax advisor in that field might be able to help negotiate down your DH's penalty. It might be worth calling a few local accountancy firms to see if anyone is prepared to take on your DH.

Unstoppable_2

mrspoppycat wrote: »

I have been lurking for months and I know there are lovely people on here that may be able to answer my question.
I have been made redundant and dont know whether to sign on or not. We have an issue with DH (self employed) not having paid any tax for a number of years:eek: . Will he get caught and landed with a bill if I claim?

Thanking you for any advice given.:hello:

Actually its possible that he will face prison for tax evasion.

At the very least when they do catch up, if he doesn't have or claims not to have accounts, he WILL receive a bill based on what they consider he has earned based on the national average for his type of business whether he has made that amount or not and it is non contestable. In addition to that, they'll load on £1000's in fines and interest. As to 3plus1's comments about a tax advisor being able to negotiate down the penalty, HMRC don't do that. Your OH has committed a criminal offence and as far as the HMRC is concerned, don't care if you can't pay when you've been defrauding them and will quite happily bankrupt you as well as make you stand before the man usually in Crown Court.

In short, when they do catch up with him, expect a prison sentence as a possibility depending on the amount and length of time he's been doing it and losing your home when landed with a bill for £10,000's you can't pay.

Sympathy? You're not going to get any here. As self employed, I paid all my taxes.

Perhaps you should live on some of that money that he's defrauded the taxman of.

storminbalder

Is this not theft, or at the very least serious fraud? Surely either of these would carry a jail sentence?

He is after all stealing from every tax payer in the country, all 65 million of us!