Hansard v2.0: The Tape is Running

THE PERCEPTION IN the past has often been that tax evasion although technically a crime was somehow not a real crime. For proof consider the career of David Jason serially voted the UK's favourite television actor two of whose best-loved characters Pop Larkin and Del Boy Trotter with his theme tune of 'no income tax no VAT' were tax evaders. The Inland Revenue's historical approach to tax evasion certainly contributed to the previously cosy image of tax dodgers by taking only the few to court while dealing with the majority privately by way of a contract settlement.

The Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 and the subsequent Money Laundering Regulations 2003 brought home the fact that deliberate tax evasion is a crime but for practitioners and the Revenue alike the strongest reminder of the criminal nature of tax...