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HMRC have added to their teams of investigators dedicated to clamping down on tax evasion – and scrappage yards will among the businesses under scrutiny.
Five new groups of specialists – which the Revenue calls taskforces – will operate around the UK, focusing on a variety of trades.
They include Scotland’s scrap metal dealers, who the taxman will target in an effort to find those who deliberately suppress their income or inflate expenditure.
Exchequer secretary David Gauke said, ‘We will not tolerate those who break the rules. This taskforce will come down hard on scrap metal dealers and their customers or suppliers who have chosen to break the rules or deliberately evade the tax they should be paying. This is just the start.’
Restaurants north of the border have been the subject of tax evasion inquiries since early summer, following the May launch of the first HMRC taskforce, which began its work by examining London’s eateries.
The latest anti-evasion squads will aim to weed out construction traders in the north-west of England and north Wales who are self-employed or run their own company while suppressing sales or over-claiming expenses.
In the same two areas, landlords who own or let three or more properties will face inquiries.
And in the English south-east, taxpayers of all kinds will be investigated for not submitting statutory returns across corporation tax, income tax self assessment, PAYE and VAT.
The taskforces bring together various Revenue compliance and enforcement specialists for intensive bursts of activity targeted at specific sectors and locations in which there is a high-risk of tax evasion.
The department intends to have set up 12 taskforces by the end of 2011/12, and more are set to follow in 2012/13.
