Tax cheats, do you know one?

There’s tax avoidance which is legal (I think) and a good accountant would advise what can be used to mitigate the amount payable.

Then there’s tax evasion involves concealing information and is illegal.

I don’t know anyone who earns enough to have an accountant.
Including us.

Ooh, I’m a bit dim. I think this thread is meant to be the flip side of another thread ‘do you know any benefit cheats’. 😂

Dd has a doctor friend who’d moved to Oxford and let her London flat.
During a conversation with a married couple (both doctors in the same hospital) who also rented out at least one property, they told her that she was mad to be declaring her rental income. ‘We never have!’

IMO this is probably rife. If you don’t have a mortgage, don’t use a letting agent and don’t live in an area where registering with the council is mandatory, there is nobody you need to tell.

The self assessment tax form doesn’t even ask for addresses - it asks only how many properties you are letting.

And I dare say that at the lower end of the market, those slumlords who cram people in, will be demanding their rent in cash anyway.

There is a thin line between tax evasion and tax avoidance.

Like many people, I suspect, I resent paying so much tax when it is wasted on HS2 etc.

I do pay any tax owing but I do it unwillingly because I have to.

I am rather proud of paying tax.
I don't think legal tax avoidance is anything to be proud of, still less evasion.

Ilovecheese

I am rather proud of paying tax.
I don't think legal tax avoidance is anything to be proud of, still less evasion.

So you don't have an ISA then?

I do.

I don’t think the OP is talking of ISAs. There are many self-employed people (builders, window cleaners, domestic cleaners) who do not declare their income. They are mostly paid in cash and trust us, not to ‘out’ them.

I didn't realise there were some areas where you didn't have to register as a landlord. You certainly do here in Scotland.

Allira

Ilovecheese

I am rather proud of paying tax.
I don't think legal tax avoidance is anything to be proud of, still less evasion.

So you don't have an ISA then?

I do.

An ISA isn't tax avoidance. It is tax planning.

Tax avoidance involves bending the rules of the tax system to try to gain a tax advantage that Parliament never intended.

It often involves contrived, artificial transactions that serve little or no purpose other than to produce this advantage. It involves operating within the letter, but not the spirit, of the law.

www.gov.uk/guidance/tax-avoidance-an-introduction

The government makes tax allowances for those that wish to use them, no tax on private residences is one that millions make the most of, many others all entirely legal.

The biggest evasions are working for cash and not declaring it and the black market drug trade, now all financial transactions are computerized it’s much more difficult not to get caught. Spending any ill gotten gains is less easy, all online purchases are traceable and many businesses simply don’t accept cash.

^I am rather proud of paying tax^

Perhaps you haven't paid as much tax as I have over the years, only to see so much of it wasted by successive governments.

Not to mention National Insurance which used to ensure that old people could see a doctor and get the treatment they needed.

Yes! Some self employed people who never declare their full earnings

Labour’s manifesto included a provision to spend 855 million (forecast to 2028-29) on what they term tax avoidance but will include other compliance issues.

The current tax gap is estimated at 40 billlion a year so that investment will be money well spent.

The tax gap analysis shows that it is small to medium sized businesses which are responsible for a large proportion of this gap through evasion and default.

Two hundred new HMRC Compliance Officers were due to have commenced work in November 2024 whose role it will be ‘to ensure that individuals and businesses are paying the correct amount of tax at the right time, receiving the appropriate allowances and tax reliefs, and to discourage tax evasion.’

HMRC ran a recruitment campaign for Tax Specialists with applications invited between 27 September to 21 October 2024.

It takes between 3 and 4 years to train to there’s will be a fairly long lead time before snspectors become fully effective, to be able to handle the most complex of cases but they are training on the job.

www.civil-service-careers.gov.uk/hmrc-tax-specialist-programme/

I don't object to paying tax, it's my contribution to society. Do I think my tax is always used wisely? No. The only thing I can do about that is to vote for a party that I think are more likely to put my tax into improving society for everyone rather than improving society for the few. It's why I vote labour.

More on Labour's long-term plans to reduce non-compliance:

uk.markel.com/about-us/news-and-insights/hmrc-to-recruit-5,000-more-tax-officials

... plans to recruit 5,000 more tax officials over the next five years to help reduce the almost £40bn tax gap.

www.pcs.org.uk/news-events/news/pcs-responds-announcement-5000-extra-hmrc-staff

I’ve a cousin who is a Tax investigator, a very rewarding job she claims, most are just stupid and easy to catch out. Not interested in small fry, over £100k is much more satisfying

FlitterMouse I find that very encouraging.
Kudos to Labour for their determination to bring those to book who need it.

crazyH

I don’t think the OP is talking of ISAs. There are many self-employed people (builders, window cleaners, domestic cleaners) who do not declare their income. They are mostly paid in cash and trust us, not to ‘out’ them.

That's tax evasion.

ISAs are tax avoidance.

FlitterMouse

Allira

Ilovecheese

I am rather proud of paying tax.
I don't think legal tax avoidance is anything to be proud of, still less evasion.

So you don't have an ISA then?

I do.

An ISA isn't tax avoidance. It is tax planning.

Tax avoidance involves bending the rules of the tax system to try to gain a tax advantage that Parliament never intended.

It often involves contrived, artificial transactions that serve little or no purpose other than to produce this advantage. It involves operating within the letter, but not the spirit, of the law.

www.gov.uk/guidance/tax-avoidance-an-introduction

Yes it is.

Tax avoidance refers to the use of legal methods to minimize the amount of income tax owed by an individual or a business.

Some posters need to find out the difference between what is legal and what is not.

Claremont

I do, many.

Well inform HMRC.

ISAs are NOT tax avoidance. See my post at 18:39:22.

They are government leglislated savings accounts to encourage people to save up to £20,000 a year.

There are over 22 million adult ISA accounts. That would mean 22 million are avoiding tax. They are not.

Allira

^Tax avoidance refers to the use of legal methods to minimize the amount of income tax owed by an individual or a business.^

Some posters need to find out the difference between what is legal and what is not.

the line is thin, VERY VERY thin.

Claremont

Allira

Tax avoidance refers to the use of legal methods to minimize the amount of income tax owed by an individual or a business.

Some posters need to find out the difference between what is legal and what is not.

the line is thin, VERY VERY thin.

But the line is there and quite clear.