Reporting suspicion of tax evasion

peace_lily_2

Apologies if this is the wrong place to post!

I have reason to suspect someone is not declaring a proportion of their income which is liable to taxation.

I don't believe there would be any benefit to me for reporting it, but I do believe it would be morally right to - so I am not wanting to do this for any personal gain.

I know that they have previously committed council tax fraud, and been found out.

So my question is, can you report someone to HMRC on suspicion only, for them to check, or do you need to know for sure? Would I be questioned for raising a concern, or can it be done anonymously?

00ec25

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-revenue-customs/contact/reporting-tax-evasion

what action HMRC may take is something you will probably never know.

laticsforlife

The devil is in the detail too. Give as much info as you can, and say where the evidence can be found.

The info you give will be sanitised, which means if only you could have found this info (say you were the payroll clerk and were reporting that payroll was being evaded) then HMRC would make it so anonymous it'd be useless to anyone trying to investigate.

Suspicion is fine, but evidence is key.

peace_lily_2

Thanks for your replies.

So if I have no evidence, only suspicion, I shouldn't report? I have information about the amount of income that I think may be undeclared, but I don't know for certain that it isn't declared.

I thought there may be a way for them to investigate and check, based on suspicion only.

Would anything happen if I was wrong?

bertiewhite

peace_lily wrote: »

Thanks for your replies.

So if I have no evidence, only suspicion, I shouldn't report? I have information about the amount of income that I think may be undeclared, but I don't know for certain that it isn't declared.

I thought there may be a way for them to investigate and check, based on suspicion only.

Would anything happen if I was wrong?

If you follow the link then it says "Use this form to tell HMRC about suspected tax evasion.

Don’t try to find out more about the tax evasion or let anyone know you’re making a report."

Which suggests to me that you can report suspicion without having proof.

peace_lily_2

Thanks! That's why I thought but I don't want to get in trouble if I'm wrong !!!55357;!!!56883;

If it makes a difference, I have evidence of the income (it came from me), but obviously don't know whether they're declaring it, hence my wanting to report.

peace_lily_2

Not sure what that mess of numbers and exclamation marks is!

CIS

peace_lily wrote: »

Not sure what that mess of numbers and exclamation marks is!

Seems to be a problem with the site formatting , seen it happening in quite a few posts recently.

lincroft1710

peace_lily wrote: »

Thanks! That's why I thought but I don't want to get in trouble if I'm wrong !!!55357;!!!56883;

If it makes a difference, I have evidence of the income (it came from me), but obviously don't know whether they're declaring it, hence my wanting to report.

HMRC won't persecute or prosecute an informant if there turns out to be no evidence of tax evasion and the informant was not acting maliciously. Sometimes an investigation into a person's tax affairs may bring to light something else which hadn't been declared.

Cook_County

Do HMRC pay whistleblower awards; like they do in the United States where such awards have topped $100 million for significant corporate fraud?

peace_lily_2

I think it's possible - although that wouldn't be an incentive for me to do it!

I'd rather everyone just paid their taxes like they're supposed to...!