AN online map pinpointing tax cheats in the North West – including Warrington – has been launched by HM Revenue and Customs.
It allows people to see the impact of HMRC’s enforcement work and shows the crimes committed and the sentences handed out.
Currently the map shows convictions resulting in jail sentences since April 2013, and the locations of HMRC taskforces since they were introduced in 2011. But it will be expanded in the future to include non-custodial sentences since April 2013.
Warrington is highlighted on the map for a VAT suppression investigation dating from 2000 involving around £5,500,000.
The culprit absconded before trial but following his appearance on HMRC’s “most wanted” list in 2012 was identified as living in the United States.
US authorities deported him to Dublin for violating his visa status, from where he was extradited to the UK under a European arrest warrant. He pleaded guilty and was jailed for four and-a-half years
The interactive site also features the results of HMRC taskforces targeting specific trades and professions, as well as details of people caught and jailed as a result of investigations by HMRC’s Criminal Investigation teams.
David Gauke, financial secretary to the Treasury, said: “HMRC’s investigators are catching tax cheats in every corner of the country and we want people to be able to see the outcome of this enforcement action.
“HMRC’s new online enforcement map shows tax cheats that when they are caught they can face hefty prison sentences.
“It is yet another example of how the government is making HMRC’s work more transparent.”
HMRC chief executive, Lin Homer, said: “HMRC is prosecuting more tax cheats every year and targeting more trades and professions where we have identified that tax revenue is at risk. This map shows the scale of our criminal investigation operations, so tax cheats should be seriously worried that HMRC is coming for them next.”
The site has been launched as a pilot, allowing HMRC to add further information and seek customer feedback.
Recent HMRC successes includ bringing in a record £23.9 billion of additional revenue in 2013-14, securing a total of 2,700 years in jail sentences between April 2010 and March 2014, prosecuting 2,650 people for tax crime from April 2010 to March 2014.
More information, including non-custodial sentences, will be added throughout 2015.
The map can be viewed at: http://hmrcdigitalpilots.com
AN online map pinpointing tax cheats in the North West – including Warrington – has been launched by HM Revenue and Customs.
Online map pinpoints tax cheats
00 Comments
Share.
About Author
Gary Skentelbery
Experienced journalist for more than 40 years. Managing Director of magazine publishing group with three in-house titles and on-line daily newspaper for Warrington. Experienced writer, photographer, PR consultant and media expert having written for local, regional and national newspapers. Specialties: PR, media, social networking, photographer, networking, advertising, sales, media crisis management. Chair of Warrington Healthwatch Director Warrington Chamber of Commerce Patron Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Foundation for Peace. Trustee Warrington Disability Partnership. Former Chairman of Warrington Town FC.
