Tradesmen operating within the construction industry have been advised to pay their taxes sooner rather than later, as HMRC plans to crack down on tradesmen who fail to declare all of their earnings.
Tradesmen working within the roofing, joinery, window fitting, carpentry and bricklaying industries have been warned that they are to be targeted by the UK tax authority. The clampdown, which is to be rolled out later on in the year, follows similar campaigns where dentists, doctors and tutors had their earnings scrutinised to make sure that they were paying an appropriate amount of tax.
The tax authority have unveiled that they are to utilise web searches to target the individuals that they believe to be dodging tax.
A number of other campaigns are to be carried out, including a careful monitoring of the tax paid by direct sellers, such as those working as door to door salesmen, to ensure that the amount of tax paid equates to the number of sales made.
A deadline is to be announced to give all tradesmen a chance to declare their tax. Anyone who fails to do so will face receiving larger fines once the deadline has elapsed.
Marian Wilson, speaking on behalf of HMRC, advised all tradesmen that they have the opportunity to ‘come forward’. She spoke of increased penalties once the deadline has expired, and the possibility of a criminal investigation being carried out. She urged all tradesmen to voluntarily disclose any unpaid tax.
Gary Ashford, speaking on behalf of the Chartered Institute of Taxation called the campaigns a ‘statement of intent from the government.’
The coalition government aim to save £7 billion through these campaigns as they set out to eliminate tax avoidance, evasion and fraud. HMRC representatives said that their focus will be on high earning individuals who failed to declare additional income after failing to complete tax returns on time, or at all.