Tax credits and not declaring income

shoe*gal_2

What happens if you are caught earning money you don't declare and are claiming CTC and WTC? The amount is about £1500 a month and income tax is not paid either. My cousin is scared of what will happen if they get caught as they got a bigger mortgage knowing they could pay it with the tax credits as well as two salaries and this eBay money. Is a pay back the benefits thing or a prison sentence?

no-oneknowsme

QUOTE

My cousin is scared of what will happen if they get caught

Obviously not THAT scared if she/he is continuing to fail to declare the extra income!

shoe*gal_2

He's been warned but apparently I'm being a cow for pointing out how wrong it is and that there's a chance the tax man will find out. Not much more I can say to him but I'm curious as to the penalty when/if they are found out.

marybelle01

I don't know the answer, but I know what I hope it will be - something serious. That is £18,000 of undeclared income a year - as much as some families have to live on. And that's in addition to have two incomes and the thieving of benefits / taxes due. That isn't a little bit of a slip up, or a few quid on the side - it is systemmatic theft.

Dunroamin

Many people are prosecuted and get a criminal record for benefit fraud and some are imprisoned if it's on a large scale. Everybody has to pay back what they owe.

marybelle01

Dunroamin wrote: »

Many people are prosecuted and get a criminal record for benefit fraud and some are imprisoned if it's on a large scale. Everybody has to pay back what they owe.

Ah - but it isn't just benefit fraud is it? It is also tax evasion, and those nice people at HMRC may be even less understanding than the DWP. They have a nasty habit of doing things like seizing your property, I believe. And then there's the impact on little things like insurance of being convicted of fraud. Insurance you will require for a mortgage, but may find it hard or impossible to get.

terryw

I agree with everything already posted, but just out of interest please let us know the type of things that are being sold on Ebay to make #1500 a month profit. Many thanks.

princessdon

Don't Hmrc scout eBay or did I read that on here?

antonic

HMRC set up a taskforce to investigate Ebay sellers.

Maybe they will be caught, maybe they wont.

Notmyrealname

shoe*gal wrote: »

What happens if you are caught earning money you don't declare and are claiming CTC and WTC? The amount is about £1500 a month and income tax is not paid either. My cousin is scared of what will happen if they get caught as they got a bigger mortgage knowing they could pay it with the tax credits as well as two salaries and this eBay money. Is a pay back the benefits thing or a prison sentence?

There are two offences being committed - benefit fraud and tax evasion. In regards to the latter, HMRC don't care that you pay it back when making a decision to prosecute or not.


With HMRC going after Ebay traders, it is only a matter of time.

Notmyrealname

terryw wrote: »

I agree with everything already posted, but just out of interest please let us know the type of things that are being sold on Ebay to make #1500 a month profit. Many thanks.

Laptops are one...